Posted on 01/21/2005 6:45:17 AM PST by Cagey
A hulking Boston bodyguard was arrested yesterday, accused of hurling a scalding Starbucks coffee at a meter maid who slapped a ticket on his illegally parked Hummer in the Back Bay.
The alleged attack unfolded about 8:30 a.m. when Christi Noviello, 44, was walking her Berkeley and Boylston streets beat and saw the black Hummer parked in a loading zone with a woman in the passenger seat.
``I am a nice meter maid,'' Noviello told the Herald yesterday in an exclusive interview. ``As a courtesy, I gave the lady a chance to move, but she pointed at the Starbucks and refused.''
Noviello wrote a $55 ticket, and slid it under the Hummer's windshield wiper - apparently enraging its driver, Francois Youhanna.
``He started yelling, `I don't accept this ticket!' He had a Venti-sized cup of black coffee in his hand, and he flung it right in my face,'' said Noviello, just hours after she was treated for first- and second-degree burns on her face and upper torso at New England Medical Center.
``I went down, I was panicking. It hurt so bad, I thought my face was falling off,'' she said. ``It was in my eyes, I was screaming.''
Starbucks employees rushed out of the store with wet cloths to soothe the burns, as cops arrested Youhanna for assault and battery with a deadly weapon, the hot coffee, which is a felony.
Youhanna insistedhe spilled the coffee on Noviello by mistake after slipping on some ice and falling, a story his female companion echoed. But witnesses said Youhanna - who is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds - charged at the meter maid and was very close to her face when the coffee was thrown.
He told cops he owned Gavilier Security Patrol, a bodyguard service that lists his West Roxbury home as the company's address. When a relative was reached at Youhanna's home, the man hung up when asked to comment on the incident.
Youhanna, a native of Lebanon, pleaded not guilty yesterday in Boston Municipal Court and was released on personal recognizance on condition he stay out of trouble and away from the meter maid. A pretrial conference date was set for Feb. 23.
Last year, 16 meter maids were physically assaulted and another 48 were threatened or harassed, said Tom Tinlin, deputy commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department.
``It's appalling. This behavior should not be tolerated in a civilized world,'' Tinlin said yesterday. ``Christi is one of the nicest people I know. For her to be subjected to such behavior while performing your job is a disgrace.''
"I didn't know that first aid was taught in liberal arts programs."
Good one! I bet any Starbucks has at least 2 art degrees, and 3 woman's studies graduates.
The appearance of "hulking" as the second word in the article kind of belies any sense of objectivity, even if one could get past the title.
And they will serve coffee to men only because it is their job. Their toil does not serve as an endorsement of the paradigm of patriarchal oppression that enables you to purchase a cup of coffee that costs more money than they make in one hour.
No ticket for me! One Year!
Dab Blasted Nazi..
I am 6'4" / 235. I don't feel "hulking". But then again, I live near the Falcons' training camp. THOSE guys are hulks!
What's a bad Hummer?
Perhaps, his actions speak otherwise.
When she uses her teeth but that is for a different thread...
I live in New Orleans where crime is rampant. I also used to drive a Chevy Blazer. I never once recieved a ticket. Due to some recent professional success, I now drive an expensive german sports car. In the last three months, I have recieved four parking tickets and three traffic tickets. Has my respect for the rules of the road vanquished? Or do the cops see some white dude whose balls they can bust while real crime happens thirty feet away?
I hate to generalize, cops do a great job but I think the legislators have enabled the police to take out their frustrations on repectable citizens. I also think there is a segment of blue and white that wants nothing to do with stopping real crime.
It would be based on potential for Serious Bodily Harm. Potential blindness, scalding that produces serious scarring, anything that may cause permanent impairment of normal function is defined in many states as Serious Bodily harm.
This is probably the initial charge. Once it gets into the system, the prosecutors will take a more realistic view and it will probably be altered.
Not to take away form the seriousness of what happen-just an answer to your inquiry and some analysis
Oh, I dunno. Scalding hot coffee in the eyes.
Hmmmm. Most people would try to get away from the pain.
Run away blindly into traffic. *Splat*
Dead.
(OTOH the Jr. High I went to classifed rubberbands as 'lethal weapons' I never did figure out why)...
Before the 20 oz. size was introduced at Starbucks, all of the coffeeshops had Short, Tall, and Grande as their three sizes. Then when Starbucks introduced the 20 oz size, they called it Venti (Italian for "twenty") and had the audacity to slap a trademark on this very common Italian word. So now, even though different coffee chains share the words short, tall, and grande, they have all had to come up with their own unique trademarked term for the 20 oz. size (Mondo Grande, Viente, Gargantuoso, etc.). Even the greatest nation on earth has some annoying quirks that you just don't find anywhere else.
Lebanese respect for women.
Meter Maids are not Police Officers per se, but assaulting one is just as bad (legally) as striking a cop. This guy deserves to go down for a long time.
Only if they get to shoot back...
Agreed. Throwing scalding coffee in a cop's face should be prosecuted as a felony, despite the efforts of some to downplay the incident. Assaulting a K-9 or police horse will send you up the river too.
"Bet this jerk felt justified in his own mind. How dare an infidel, and a woman, dare challenge him. He probably thought he did the right thing by trying to put her in her place. Perhaps it should be a Religion of Peace hate crime."
His name is Francois Youhanna. He is a Christian. There are several Christian sects in Lebanon.
Too bad judges don't exercise the "eye for an eye" law these days. Venti in the face for a venti in the face would help for starters.
With a name like Francois Youhanna, there is a very good chance that this guy is Lebanese Christian.
I guess that we are all products of our various experiences. Good luck with your parking tickets.
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