Posted on 12/23/2004 11:39:23 AM PST by marshmallow
The Christmas spirit turned sour yesterday when two parents fought over seats to watch their children perform at a holiday pageant inside a packed Great Kills pre-school auditorium.
Venus Guerrieri, 59, and her son, Charles H. Balducci, 29, both of East Augusta Avenue, Great Kills, were arrested on the grounds of St. Clare's parish and charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.
According to police sources, Mrs. Guerrieri and Balducci had attacked a woman who said the duo -- along with Balducci's wife, Sabrina, and their 1-year-old son -- were sitting in seats she had claimed at the pageant in St. Clare's Pre-School, located on Nelson Avenue.
The show went on after the incident.
The victim, whose full name was officially withheld by police, was treated at Staten Island University Hospital, Prince's Bay, for minor injuries and released, officials said.
Her husband is a retired police officer.
"My neck, face, hair -- my whole body hurts," said the woman, who identified herself only as Cathy, speaking with the Advance at her Tompkinsville home last night. She'd gone to the event to see her 3-year-old daughter perform, she said.
At about 11:45 a.m., Cathy said, she left her purse with another parent to mark off three seats for her family to watch the show.
The seats, folding chairs, were apparently located in the second row from where the performance would take place in the school's lower-level auditorium.
Cathy said she went to check on the whereabouts of her husband, Rob, who was parking the car. With him were her mother and her other daughter, who is 1.
DISPUTE ERUPTS
Upon her return, Cathy said, she found her purse moved and Balducci placing his jacket over her seats. "I said to him, 'Excuse me, I'm sitting here and those are my seats,'" she said.
It's here where Balducci's account differs.
He said that he had been in the seats for about 15 minutes, saving them for members of his family, when Cathy approached him and got "up in [his] face with her hands."
"She called me a piece of [expletive]," Balducci told the Advance by telephone.
Cathy counters that it was Balducci who used profanity.
"I told him there was no need for this at my daughter's pageant," she said.
Balducci claimed that as his mother, Mrs. Guerrieri, handed his daughter off to his wife, Cathy swung at her.
The two women got into a "catfight," according to Balducci, pulling each other's hair.
Cathy disputed that, saying Mrs. Guerrieri kept bumping into her, almost causing her to fall.
All the while, she said, Balducci was acting menacingly, threatening her with violence.
She revealed two large areas on either side of her rear scalp where chunks of hair were missing, injuries she said were caused by Mrs. Guerrieri and Balducci, who also allegedly jumped on top of her.
She alleged that Balducci also punched her in her left forehead, and then slammed the right side of her face onto a table.
Balducci stated that he only tried to break up the fight and never hit Cathy.
He further said that it was actually Cathy who hit his mother, a woman he called a "senior citizen," and that he'll be taking her to be medically examined today.
"I was a little bit surprised her husband didn't step forward to break up the fight as quickly as I did," Balducci said. "I was even more surprised it became a matter that had to go into the hands of the police instead of us talking it out."
POLICE INTERVENE
Cathy's husband, Rob, said that calling the authorities was the proper thing to do.
"I just got beat up! I just got beat up!" Rob said his wife yelled, as she ran toward him in the parking lot.
He and others called 911, he said.
"If I did to him what he did to my wife, it would put me at his level," said Rob, visibly angry over his wife's injuries.
Balducci and Mrs. Guerrieri were placed under arrest by police officers from the Mid-Island's 122nd Precinct at 1:17 p.m. They are to appear in court at a later date.
Balducci said the police response was elicited because Cathy's husband is a former member of the service.
Rob, however, said the authorities were notified because of the extent of his wife's injuries.
Cathy said she was told at the hospital that she will need to see a hair specialist.
MTV SHOW
Balducci demonstrated similar violent tendencies during a 2002 MTV program, focusing on people preparing to marry, Rob said. On the episode, Balducci launched into a profanity-laced tirade aimed at the limousine driver who was late picking him up for the wedding.
Balducci acknowledged being on the show, but said he was only acting according to the producer's request.
"He is trying to attack the fact that I've been on television," said Balducci, referring to the former cop.
Meanwhile, Cathy's husband is asking anyone with videotape of the incident to come forward.
Rob is also asking that the school not allow Balducci to return for functions, nor allow his son to remain enrolled.
"The victims are the kids," said Balducci, noting that he is member of the school's fund-raising board and has personally given numerous donations.
"It rips my heart out of my chest that I missed seeing my son say the Pledge of Allegiance," he said.
Cathy and Rob said they plan to file an order of protection against the Balduccis and Mrs. Guerrieri.
Balducci said that if a lawsuit is pursued, he will countersue for damages.
I'm sure this Balducci guy is a thug, but, I hate it when I get to those type of functions and somebody has left their junk on the seat and wandered off until just before the play starts. I think you should get there and sit there, or risk losing your seat.
I get the feeling there was a lot of "Fuhgedaboudit" being tossed around during this confrontation.
"You know, I'm going to start thanking
the woman who cleans the restroom in
the building I work in. I'm going to start
thinking of her as a human being"
Absolutely. When I go to a function and I want a good seat, I arrive early. If someone has gone and 'reserved' 15 seats for the whole family, I totally ignore it and sit where I want.
That's all I got when I googled the name ... don't know if it's the same one.
You've got that right. I just got back from picking up stocking stuffers and I couldn't believe the ugliness of a lot of the people out there. The salespeople were all very pleasant and polite, but many of the customers were angry and aggressive. I wish people would just relax. The world isn't going to come to an end if little Johnny doesn't get the video game that he wants.
I think this falls under the "move your meat, lose your seat" column.
(BTW...according to the account, the woman, AND her mother AND her daughter left to check on hubby. Why? Was she going to get lost without her entourage?)
Regards,
You don't have kids do you...? LOL
I remember this guy from the MTV show. He threatened to gut the limo driver like cattle, and hinted that he was mobbed up.
Ah yes..."hair hurt."
Usually associated with wearing your hair up in a too-tight ponytail. I'm talking tight, as in, "there's no need to see the plastic surgeon 'cause my face is pulled WAAAAY back already" tight.
When you take your hair out after being in that condition all day, the sensation you get is "hair hurt," and son of a gun...your hair really does hurt!
This sensation can also be brought on by the hairpulling usually associated with a "girl fight."
Regards,
No it looks like she went to check on hubby who was parking the car with grandma and babe.
If you go, sit down, and want to reserve the seat next to you for your kid or husband, or whatever, O.K. If you go to a seat, put some junk on it to reserve them, and then take off, you're subject to eviction.
Now, parking spots are a different story. I went to a women's fast-pitch softball tournament that my daughter was playing in. There were many teams there. There was a roped-off area for parking. Acres, we're talking. In the closest area to park was a parking spot with a folding chair in it. I got out and grabbed the chair. This lit up a bunch of people nearby, all women as far as I noticed, who started yelling at me. Turns out that they were reserving that parking spot for a friend of theirs who had yet to show. I looked them over, folded up the chair, carefully put it on the other side of the rope, said something along the lines of, "sorry, you can't reserve parking", and stepped aside as my wife parked the van. The key here is to blow off any criticism, regardless of profanities, obscenities, etc.
Actually, I do. But I do most of my shopping on-line and I do it early.
Ugh! That's this guy?
Nevermind what I said before. He's a thug.
Regards,
Yeah, I'm wondering about that. What, the father can't park the van and find them without 3 women checking up on him? Bet he loves that.
Oh, OK....'cause at first it sounded like she AND grandma left the seats. That would have been silly.
Besides, now that I know who the other guy is, I've had to change my position -- I wouldn't believe a word that guy said.
Regards,
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