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Andover woman nabbed in snowball rage incident
Boston Herald ^ | March 18, 2005 | Franci Richardson

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.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: honda; pepperspray; schoolkids; snow; snowball; suv
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To: billorites
This reminds me of the snowball fight in the movie "Dumb and Dumber"

61 posted on 03/18/2005 6:08:43 AM PST by TheForceOfOne
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To: Sloth
"I have more important things to do."

You lost me with that one.

62 posted on 03/18/2005 6:11:32 AM PST by Hatteras
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To: Hatteras

Read the article.


63 posted on 03/18/2005 6:12:38 AM PST by Sloth (I don't post a lot of the threads you read; I make a lot of the threads you read better.)
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To: Hatteras
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.

In other words, you would find it acceptible for someone to violate your rights, tell you to shut up when you complain and assault you when you don't?

Let's just call it disciplining a child that is probably too big to spank.

And when this lady finds herself reporting to a parole officer and writing a check to settle the lawsuit, we will just call discipling a shrew who probably wishes she were just getting spanked.

64 posted on 03/18/2005 6:29:05 AM PST by Tribune7
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To: billorites
Toronto tightens ban on snowball fights
Tuesday, January 6, 2004 Posted: 8:23 PM EST (0123 GMT)

TORONTO, Ontario (Reuters) -- A snowball fight is almost a rite of passage for students in Canada but Toronto schools are moving to strengthen a ban on the practice they say is violent and dangerous.

As the first big snowfall greeted Canada's most populous city this week, schools encouraged students to engage in kinder, gentler activities, such as building snow forts or riding sleds.

"We don't encourage people to throw things at other people - rocks, sticks or snow," Maureen Kaukinen, system superintendent for the Toronto District School Board, told Reuters Tuesday.

While snowball fights are expected to continue to rage off the schoolyard, Kaukinen said schools cannot condone acts of violence.

The school board, in keeping with a nonviolence code in the province of Ontario, plans to suspend students who injure others using snowballs.

Schools have had problems with snowballs in the past. In December, a child was mistakenly trapped in a giant snowball his friends were rolling in their school yard in nearby Niagara Falls. Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was required to revive him.

Kaukinen said that to avoid such dangers students are reminded that snow should stay on the ground and not become an instrument of violence.

65 posted on 03/18/2005 6:33:23 AM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: Tribune7
If some nut was blocking my car, I'd be inclined to be sarcastic.

I'd be inclined to take it away from her and put it in a place where she wouldn't be likely to forget where it was.

66 posted on 03/18/2005 6:38:39 AM PST by iconoclast (Better to take refuge in the Lord than to put one's trust in princes. (Psalms 118:9).)
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To: billorites
It appears as though you are basing all your comments on what the kid's side of the story. No problem, she was unavailable for comment. This is probably what the kid accused her of saying so I will store that in it's proper file.

Consider this, "Among the victims was a high school student who reportedly was an innocent bystander who just asked her to move her car.

I will wait to hear what her side of the story is before I cast judgement on her based on the word of the accuser(s). Keep in mind, because there are plenty of details left to be discovered (was the "innocent bystander" friends with the other kids?, how old and how big was the kid that got sprayed?, her side of the story, of course...etc.), I am basing my initial assesment of this story on experience, both as a kid and as a parent.

67 posted on 03/18/2005 6:40:39 AM PST by Hatteras
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To: Hatteras
(was the "innocent bystander" friends with the other kids?, how old and how big was the kid that got sprayed?, her side of the story, of course...etc.),

If I were to judge by the picture of him in this morning's Globe, I'd have to say he was a pretty beefy kid. The picture shows him wearing a "Gold's Gym" t-shirt while sitting on a Nautilus weight-lifting machine. Further, he claimed to be on his way to a job---a construction job.

Educated guess? This kid might not have been such an innocent bystander. He might not be telling the exact truth. He probably mouthed off like a spoiled brat. But he doesn't deserve to get pepper-sprayed for being a spoiled wise-ass brat.

68 posted on 03/18/2005 6:48:09 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: wideawake
This incident took place in Massachusetts. It's probably a good assumption that possession of anything other than a condom in Massachusetts is illegal unless there is a specific law stating otherwise.

You've basically nailed it...Everything in Massachusetts is either illegal or it is mandatory...

69 posted on 03/18/2005 6:58:19 AM PST by FDNYRHEROES (Make welfare as hard to get as a building permit)
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To: billorites
According to the Libertarians, the fellow initiated force, causing sound waves to violently penetrate her ears. We have to allow the freewill choice to use pepper spray or not!
70 posted on 03/18/2005 7:07:20 AM PST by Cultural Jihad
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To: Hemingway's Ghost
"But he doesn't deserve to get pepper-sprayed for being a spoiled wise-ass brat."

You're right, maybe not... from a legal standpoint. But, I'm sure, the next time, he will think twice about how he approaches an older woman, with a complaint. Lesson learned..

71 posted on 03/18/2005 7:11:05 AM PST by Hatteras
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To: Hatteras
You're right, maybe not... from a legal standpoint. But, I'm sure, the next time, he will think twice about how he approaches an older woman, with a complaint. Lesson learned..

Completely. Like I wrote earlier, I'm from there, and I bet dollars to doughnuts I know the type of kid Cataldo is---probably a kid for whom entitlement & priviledge have been life-long givens. The starting price for a tear-down-and-build-on-the-lot in Andover is probably around $350-400,000.

72 posted on 03/18/2005 7:15:01 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: Obi-Wandreas

And now he knows how stupid it is to be sarcastic with a crazy woman brandishing a tire iron and pepper spray. He owes this lady. An object lesson like that might save his life some day.


73 posted on 03/18/2005 7:31:19 AM PST by TigersEye ("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
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To: Flyer
illegal possession of pepper spray?

Massachusetts - where anything that can give you even a hint of self defense is illegal.

74 posted on 03/18/2005 7:37:30 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy, and Bush is no conservative)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost
But he doesn't deserve to get pepper-sprayed for being a spoiled wise-ass brat.

True. Given you description of him having his teeth kicked in would be more appropriate and leave a more lasting impression.

75 posted on 03/18/2005 7:45:25 AM PST by TigersEye ("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
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To: Cultural Jihad
According to the Libertarians, the fellow initiated force, causing sound waves to violently penetrate her ears. We have to allow the freewill choice to use pepper spray or not!

According to the law assault is saying something threatening. I guess you would have your wife wait until battery were committed upon her before she should respond. Of course this is Massachusetts where even battery isn't cause enough for self-defense.

76 posted on 03/18/2005 7:51:29 AM PST by TigersEye ("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
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To: billorites
Or wine with lunch.

Either way, this just goes to show that elderly women drivers can be a hazard even when not behind the wheel.

77 posted on 03/18/2005 7:55:29 AM PST by Freebird Forever (Support your local gunsmith.)
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To: TigersEye
True. Given you description of him having his teeth kicked in would be more appropriate and leave a more lasting impression.

Yep. Had this been a 48-year-old dude instead of a 48-year-old woman, methinks the outcome would've been much different.

78 posted on 03/18/2005 7:58:07 AM PST by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost
Let's see; we have kids throwing snowballs at traffic, a middle aged woman whose frustration level boils over to ballistic, a smart-mouthed young construction worker whose needs are so important that anyone who blocks his way deserves some bad-mouthing and state laws that require you to take whatever is dished out and let the police and the courts handle it. All just random, isolated, unconnected events and conditions. Uh huh.

This is the thugocracy liberals have created there and Maria doesn't have a lisence to participate.

79 posted on 03/18/2005 8:11:37 AM PST by TigersEye ("Where there is life there is hope!" - Terri Schiavo)
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To: billorites
"This mornin', I shot six holes in my freezer,
I think I've got cabin fever.
Somebody sound the alarm!"
-Jimmy Buffett, "Boat Drinks"

Sounds like he wrote it just for her, and for all you peer devils still in the grip of Old Man Winter.

80 posted on 03/18/2005 8:49:05 AM PST by theDentist (The Dems are putting all their eggs in one basket-case: Howard "Belltower" Dean.)
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