Posted on 01/09/2004 5:42:21 AM PST by 1riot1ranger
Sidewalk camper wounded by officer By PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
A man believed to be homeless was shot by a police officer Thursday after he swung a club at one officer and attacked another on a downtown street, investigators said.
Roberto Aleman Ojeda, 52, was listed in fair condition at Ben Taub Hospital with a knee wound. Ojeda admitted he was trying to knock a gun out of the officer's hand with the club, said HPD homicide Investigator Brian Harris.
Sgt. Steve A. Perez and officer James P. Tyler were not seriously hurt during the struggle, which spilled into traffic near Minute Maid Park. Criminal charges will be pursued against Ojeda, said police spokesman John Cannon.
The shooting happened around 1 p.m. after Perez went to investigate a complaint about Ojeda setting up camp and blocking a sidewalk near the corner of Capitol and Chartres, under the U.S. 59 bridge. Ojeda initially did not respond to Perez's request for identification and then cursed at him, Cannon said.
The sergeant reported that Ojeda began punching and kicking him and that the struggle moved into the street as the sergeant tried to block the blows.
Tyler responded to Perez's call for assistance. Cannon said Ojeda then went back to his encampment, where he grabbed a 4-foot club and swung it at the officers.
Tyler backed away from Ojeda and started to fall, then fired one shot when he saw Ojeda raise the club, Cannon said.
Two civilian witnesses supported the officers' version of events, Cannon said.
The wounded man's makeshift camp consisted of little more than blankets, cardboard boxes and bags of empty cans.
Sidewalk camper! Hysterical!
Only six finds at google. Be first on your block to use it!
I can't wait to out PC my liberal friends with that one!
Sidewalk camper is way too PC for me. A bum is bum. period
And hobos, tramps and bums are now "homeless".
One of the great things about English is how readily it adopts new terms from foreign languages - in this case, "sidewalk camper" is clearly a translation from the original Canadian...
"Oh, why don't you work, like other men do?
How in h*ll can I work when there's no work to do?
Hallelujah, I'm a bum!
Hallelujah, bum again!
Hallelujah, give us a handout
To revive us again."
In opposition I'll give you the words of ol' Henry Miller, a contemporary of Jim Hill - his ranches along the railroad were known as the "Dirty Plate Route", because tramps were served last and on the used plates, because Hill decreed there would be no extra work for the dishwasher.
Anyhow, Miller drew up a set of rules for the treatment of tramps (not bums) on the Dirty Plate Route. One was "one meal only" at any given station, because in Miller's words "a tramp should be a tramp and keep on tramping."
I think bums had to move around as they exhausted the opportunities in any given area . . .
"I went to a house, and I knocked on the door,
A lady came out, said 'you been here before.'
Hallelujah, I'm a bum, etc. "
Lyrics are not as good authority, I believe, because the songwriter has questions of meter and ease of singing to consider. "Tramp" doesn't fit as well with the melody.
Here's the original: Revive Us Again.
For further info on Miller and tramps, see Edward Treadwell's book The Cattle King.
I don't think so, that's like dog bites man, who would bother to read it!
(Does he sing "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night"?) :-D
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