Posted on 11/19/2002 3:12:52 PM PST by Weimdog
Vandalism ends in bizarre death BY TOBY MANTHEY / Lincoln Journal Star
A Lincoln man died Sunday afternoon after being injured about 12 hours earlier when a fragment of a golf club a friend was swinging to knock over mailboxes struck him in the side of his head, police said.
Lincoln police said Brian J. Brinker, 21, was seated in the right back seat of a vehicle and two friends were in the front when the club hit a mailbox and broke. A fragment ricocheted into the vehicle, causing a "puncture-type wound in (Brinker's) skull," Police Capt. David Beggs said. He would not identify the make of the vehicle.
The man who allegedly swung the club, 23-year-old Scott R. Philips, of Lincoln, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree assault, Beggs said. Philips was in the front passenger seat. Whether Philips will be officially charged will be determined by the County Attorney's Office today or Tuesday, Beggs said.
The driver of the vehicle, Anthony M. Harman, 22, of Lincoln, was not cited or arrested.
Police said officials at BryanLGH Medical Center East called the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office at 12:21 a.m. Sunday when Brinker was brought by Philips and Harman to the hospital and was unresponsive. Surgery was performed, but Brinker was pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m.
Police do not know where the men were driving when the club fragment struck Brinker.
Harman and Philips initially said the incident happened outside the city, but later changed their accounts, police said. Authorities now believe it occurred inside the city limits, making it a police investigation.
"It's in northeast Lincoln, but we can't find it,"Beggs said. "If anyone has fresh damage to their mailbox, we'd urge them to give us a call."
Philips and Harman said they had hit three or four mailboxes before the club broke, Beggs said. Police do not know which part of the club struck Brinker.
Beggs said police have confiscated the vehicle and would obtain a warrant to search it for the club or other evidence.
Philips, 3028 Vine St., and Harman are listed as College of Business Administration students in the current University of Nebraska-Lincoln student directory. Brinker was not listed in the directory. No other information about him was available Sunday night.
It was unclear Sunday night if an autopsy would be performed on Brinker, Beggs said.
Reach Toby Manthey at 473-7395 or citydesk@journalstar.com.
Oh, sweet justice!
Sadly, there will probably be a lawsuit. I'm sorry but golf clubs aren't designed to be used to whack mailboxes, particularly while in a moving vehicle.
I still like the swing rod idea, even though I don't condone it.
If the kids had been riding in an SUV, he would have.
In fact, the title would have probably been "SUV Passenger Killed By Golf Club", or something.
Consider what happens to concrete and steel when liquid nitrogen (or worse, liquid oxygen) is applied in profuse quantities...of course, only careful vandals need apply.
Some folks need to remember to constrain their desire for retribution with a consideration for the innocent passerby, one who's transgression is not intentional. Road hazards will be eliminated with extreme predjudice. The details are available to anyone with a high school education (I used to say 3rd grade, but the educational system is in a bit of decline, and Encyclopaedia Britannica is no longer concerned with the nitty-gritty of how the partisans were able to give the Nazis such a difficult time).
I know what you mean, but it isn't retribution. It's to keep from paying out 19.99 for a mailbox and 9 bucks for a 4 by 4 post every weekend. (Retribution is just icing on the cake. :-D )
And if you think the concrete is a bit much, there was a case this year in Atlanta where six kids stole an SUV, got some logging chains, and spent the evening wrecking BRICK mailbox pillars by dragging them down the road.
I don't have this problem (and I've never bought a second mailbox) because our box sits next to a large telephone pole. Guess they could sue the electric company if they're going for our box and hit the pole by mistake . . .
The universe of folks who have the knowledge and ability to get hold of liquid nitrogen (and the sources in Atlanta) are sufficiently limited that I'll be able to track down the perps without too much trouble.
Please do not tell me those kids won the lawsuit!
Also exactly what did the kids sue for? After all if they did not engage in vandalism they woudl not have hit the concrete-can!
This annoys me!
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