Sacre Bleu

My two cents. We could probably forgive him if it is related to dementia or Alzheimers, however, if his dementia has progressed to the point where he is a danger to himself or society WHY is he still allowed to not only be out by himself but DRIVING????? His symptoms would have manifested themselves a long time ago if they had reached this point and certainly someone would know and he would be getting professional help longer before this incident. Which leads me to believe that that is not the case, (but I'm not a doctor).

Playing the devil's advocate, It would be safe to say this man knows he has an anger management problem, and maybe this incident that escalated in his mind was a breaking point for him and instead of controlling his anger, he took the wrong road, and exploded. Possibly this time or once again, he has brought such negative notoriety for his wife and himself with not much hope in "making it better" for their living in harmony with neighbors, and now life may not be very good for them. I am not condoning his vioient action, nor making excuses for what he did, but there could be a lot more here than what the 122 posters are aware of.

That may be true. It is very hard to imagine a scenario where this man can excuse this violent outburst. I have had stuff in my own life which excuse a nervous breakdown in March 2000 and there was a whole lot going on and is still going on BUT there are many ways to calm yourself. I do feel for his wife, however, but she probably knows all about his temperament and other stuff.

[QUOTE=Carl in Tampa;769187]The French word baton is generally translated into English as stick.

Thus, the Louisiana capital of Baton Rouge is translated Red Stick.

Why Red Stick? The European-American history of Baton Rouge dates from 1699, when French explorer Sieur d'Iberville leading an exploration party up the Mississippi River saw a reddish cypress pole festooned with bloody animals that marked the boundary between the Houma and Bayou Goula tribal hunting grounds. They called the pole and its location le bâton rouge, or the red stick.

I love trivia.

Thank you Carl in Tampa. I love geography and learning. I'll remember this the next time I'm in Baton Rouge.

For all the Monday morning juries, here's a possible scenario: the perp claimed he did not assault anyone, but admits to property damage. Maybe...just maybe..he got out of his car, started to approach the guy in front (whose mother is 68, so how old is he?) and the younger guy sees him coming quickly, yelling, and pre-empts the confrontation by clocking him. Realizing that he is gonna go down in a fight, the perp resorts to car damage as revenge.
I dont buy anything about dementia, reduced capacity, alzheimers...anger management issues - YES - and there's plenty of that in all communities.
Just sayin...

I am pretty sure that the police report would have got their facts right. http://www.dailycommercial.com/news/...accda4836.html

Agree. Didnt see your link before I posted.

I still would want to know if he was on any medication before I condemn him. There are some meds that can totally change your personality and this change can occur without you really being aware of it. As I said previously, there may be mitigating circumstances, so how about we cut the man some slack until, if and when all facts come out.

Just have trouble with someone with obvious anger issues travelling around with a baton. This is not the kind of person who should have access to any kind of weapon. I know that it is impossible to block tax paying Villagers from their right to have a weapon BUT holding people accountable who do use a weapon when they and their family know they have serious impulse control as well as aggression issues should be a norm and not an exception.

If there are mitigating circumstances let the judge and/or jury deal with these.

The Sumter County Sheriff's website proudly points to the statistical fact that Sumter County Florida is one of the safest places to live in the USA. They should be proud of that. However, far too many villagers buy into the spin-myth that TV is some sort of adult Disneyland where the skies are not cloudy all day. TV is NOT Mayberry, North Carolina and Sheriff Andy does not live here. Real crimes..real issues happen here on a regular basis. Compared to places like Baltimore, Detroit or NYC there's no comparison..TV and Sumter County are very safe places to live, but there are still the same bad elements that you find everywhere else, just in lesser numbers.

That's so true!!!

It is true. But Gary Morse is perfect.:pepper2:

His Ozness can't change Human Nature, but Mercy, if you can't act happy here and get over your impatience here, you are ONE LOST CAUSE.

Gracie the Happy, full of wonderful home cooked sauerbraten and gemutlikeit. (sp)Thank you for a very special evening in lower Paradise, Missy Pie, Ernie, Marie, Ralphie, Richard, and Leeanne!

Florida Statute 784.08 HARSHLY addresses battery against a 65 y/o. Mandatory prison time for starters. (NOTE: the age of the attacker is irrelevant; it is the age of the victim that applies in such matters. The law applies equally if an attacker is 65 & over).

The law should serve as a serious deterrent to committing (initiating) an act of violence against older folks. The law should be in the forefront of one's mind whenever the potential for escalating a confrontational situation occurs.

In other words, be the "Hitee" instead of the "Hitor". (Only for the first punch)

14 pages of reply's and finally somebody suggest maybe he was off his meds>>>>>i agree ..
no excuse for violence...."do the crime pay the time"......
professional evaluation needed
just my 2 cents

Oh NOOOOO, he might break all the lights with the baton!!!! What if we slow down to look at the lights? What if we stop and he's behind us? god help us.

Not that it would ameliorate the offender's behavior, but I keep wondering how provocative the behavior of the 34 year old and his mother became after the horn was blown. I mean, did they just start pushing all the right buttons until the fellow felt so disrespected that he snapped? Even if they did, it wouldn't be a defense for baton boy, I just wonder if it may have been the case.

Just my guesses (in order of possible):

1. He has dementia.

2. He has PTSD (former military or Police?).

3. Medication problems?

4. Just a mean jerk!

Could be either one. But in any event he needs to be off the road for some time whether it be jail or under doctor's care.

Kick him out of The Villages
 

I think the villagers of Hadley should petition for this nutcase to be kicked out of The Villages.

Actually, that was suggested on the third page of posts. However, you are right. I would bet that psychiatric evaluation would be most enlightening.

Hopefully, you are just being sarcastic. There is no basis for that, legal or moral. Particularly, if the root of the problem was medical.

Did I read that he "told" the offended driver to pull over? If so, WHY did he pull over? Who would do that? If a total stranger told me to pull over, well; I don't think so!!!!! I'm not making excuses for the offender but something isn't right about what we know so far re;this assault.

Why?
 

Could be since the guy was honking at him, he thought perhaps he needed help or directions or something. Had the offender been what we might say a "normal" person, he could have been trying to tell the person driving the car in front of him that he had noticed something wrong with his car and just wanted to let him know about it. Everyone who honks or asks someone to pull over or roll down the window is not "up to no good".

This guy is one of how many thousands in The Villages, "Florida's Friendliest Hometown"?

I was once asked to pull over (actually I was a passenger) and when we did 3 guys with guns pointed them in our faces (case of mistaken identity - fortunately no one was hurt). I'm not pulling over for anyone after that.

As usual Dillywho, everything you say makes sense to me.

There's people in AND outside of TV who are criminals who will stalk people w/evil intent in mind. It just happened to me last week in a major Dept. Store pkg lot in the morning as I was coming out of the store just outside of TV. A guy in a pickup truck, seemed to come out of nowhere, had his window rolled down and stopped to make a sleazy remark to me. B/c I'm a former victim of an assault, I always have my radar up when out and about. That's why I would NEVER stop and talk to anyone in that type of scenario. People, be careful out there, I know we all LOVE the 1950's way of thinking, but it unfortunately is 2013, a way different kind of animal.

OH DEAR, all Hadley residents should be warned!

Words of wisdom. You speak the truth. Society has certainly changed, no matter where one lives. Everyone seems to be hopped up on some type of drug or other, whether legal or illegal.......they have side effects. Stay safe.

A couple years ago my Aunt was assaulted in a church parking lot at high noon as church was letting out. They knocked her to the ground and stole her purse.

For sure, be careful out there.

OK, after reading all 150 comments, I have to comment. Did it occur to anyone that it is a simple case of road rage? I bet the guy from Hadley, who "they" say just moved here is from a state with many impatient drivers, ie a big city with traffic congestion. Impatient driving is rather contagious and becomes a way of life for SOME folks and he hasn't adjusted to the more laid back state of TV. Saw impatient driving and road rage all the time living in the Washington DC area. I wouldn't give the 1 finger salute or yell back to someone who honks at you or cuts you off or you might just get shot in DC. It has taken me over a year to slow down my driving speed and adjust the time it will take me to get somewhere because I was so used to a faster pace. There is NO excuse for what he did and he needs to suffer the consequences of his actions. I feel sorry for his family.https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...milies/sad.gif

Other than the official police report posted here earlier, I seriously doubt we will be getting any more factual information about this incident until it is adjudicated in court.
Seems to be a lot of speculation going on here. So I'll just add my theory: the perp is a bully who is used to getting his way via shouting, cursing, threats, and aggressive behavior. In this case, however, the "victim" was not intimidated in the least and took protective action. Note black eye present in mug shot of perp. The perp in turn was so stunned by this turn of events that he quickly retreated to his car, grabbed his baton, and began attacking the victim's vehicle, breaking windows, and punching yhe victim's mother. I guess she was more his speed as far as physical prowess.
How's that for an imagined scenario?

As good a guess as any!

I don't want to make light of your situation, but the former mayor of Toledo, Ohio..a guy named Carty Finkbiener used to take his role as the city's top "emergency official" seriously and was known to attempt to pull over people who he thought were in violation of various traffic infractions. One day a scared motorist cold-cocked the mayor not knowing who he was or what he was doing. The city council and the Chief of Police finally managed to get Carty to stop doing his Captain Midnight impression before he got killed.

Good old Carty Finkbiener. He once proposed moving all the deaf people in Toledo next to the Airport so he wouldn't have to deal with noise complaints anymore. I actually found him to be a great supporter and booster of Toledo, but his act did get tiresome after a while. (Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the road rage thread).

If there was ever a thread in need of a hijacking, it was this one.

Speaking of deaf people, I had a friend who sold cars at a dealership. He learned sign language so he could concentrate on selling to the hearing impaired.

He got a lot of trade-ins from his customers. He said he noticed an interesting phenomenon. The radios in these cars either had almost never been turned on or the speakers were entirely blown out of them.

(How's that for hijacking a thread?)

If you have watched the TV series Swamp People on the History Channel you have seen R.J. Molinere, Jr. and his son Jay Paul Molinere hunting alligators in Louisiana. They are members of the above mentioned Houma Nation Indian tribe, still following the hunting traditions of their ancestors, except that they now kill the gators with rifles rather than sharpened spears.

More trivia, as we go farther afield from the theme of the thread.