Posted on 03/18/2005 3:45:19 AM PST by billorites
An irate Andover housewife was freed without bail on assault charges after a case of snowball rage allegedly prompted her to chase down some kids with a tire iron and a can of pepper spray.
Among the victims was a high school student who reportedly was an innocent bystander who just asked her to move her car.
``(Maria) Needs told him to say one more thing and he would see what would happen and she was waving the metal bar at him,'' read a police report. ``(He) said something sarcastic and at this time, Mrs. Needs sprayed him with pepper spray right in the eye.''
Needs, 48, was released on her own recognizance yesterday from Lawrence District Court after she was charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and illegal possession of pepper spray.
Three witnesses told police kids outside of Andover High School threw snowballs at her Honda SUV. After Needs chased one of the kids with a tire iron through the high school parking lot, another student who was not involved in the snowball throwing asked her to move her car so he could get to work on time.
``Needs refused and said that she had more important things to do,'' according to the police report.
Needs refused comment at her home yesterday through a man who identified himself as her husband.
As a matter of fact, I think the kid felt like he could mouth off to this lady because he didn't feel threatened. Dollars to donuts, if the car blocking his path was filled with 3 or 4 brothers from the other side of the tracks he wouldn't have expressed his concerns and opinion. Why do you suppose?
Yeah, that's it, blame the victim. Someone being a smart mouth gives you the right to pepper-spray them now? It might not have been the smartest thing to do, but it doesn't excuse her actions.
This should have kept this whack-job in jail for a weekend to give her a chance to cool off.
Actually, that's exactly what he got.
Laws that prevent people from getting what's coming to them breed monsters.
And publically humiliating adults who slap down bratty teenagers do that even more so.
Huh?
It's Andover, MA.
You may only use the phone to defend yourself.
Anything that could possibly protect you from victim status is illegal.
And if the kid had to get to work, what was he doing standing around watching a bunch of kids attacking a woman with snowballs in the first place?
Hey, I was a kid once, too. I know better. The kid that got sprayed was a wise-ass who got what was coming to him. It's too bad his parent's didn't teach him when to keep his mouth shut.
A little more than thirty years ago I was deriving along a road in my home town in the winter when a kid threw a snowball up into the air like a mortar round and managed to land the thing right on top of my car with no damage. I thought it was funny then and he was a great shot and I still think so today. This woman needs to have her meds adjusted.
Let's park my car behind yours and see how long you keep your mouth shut.
As someone who grew up in Gaydover and attended AHS, I can assure you you're probably balls-on correct.
In MA, it's illegal to carry pepper spray without an Firearms Identification (FID) card.
Well, I would take in to consideration what your intent was. If I see you chasing a bunch of boys with a tire iron and then come back to your car, huffing and puffing from your impromptu morning jog, then I would be more inclined to consider my words a bit more carefully. I would also give you the benefit of the doubt that you will be moving your vehicle as soon as you get back in it and take a few seconds to catch your breath.
Yeay, cuz we know that in the city, they never do anything as heinous as throwing snowballs at cars.
Well, except maybe shooting at them.
I'm so glad I don't live in the city.
All of this violence will cease when global warming removes snowballs from our cities.
And if you should, should you be peppersprayed? This was not an act of self-defense. Being angry is not an excuse to commit assault.
This lady is very much in the wrong and she's going to go through a lot of aggravation over the next several months and she deserves to.
Do they actually have 'police kids' in Andover?????
"I have more important things to do."
Being pepper sprayed for something like that? Remember, he didn't get pepper-sprayed for asking her to move her car, he got sprayed because he felt it necessary to say something sarcastic and inappropriate after her warning. Let's just call it disciplining a child that is probably too big to spank. Something his parents should have done a long time ago.
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