Jury finds Gulf War vet guilty in BB gun shooting

Express-Times (western New Jersey/eastern Pennsylvania) ^ | 04/24/02 | TOM QUIGLEY

[gumbo]

BELVIDERE - A U.S. Army sergeant who served in the Persian Gulf War now faces at least three years in state prison for shooting a 15-year-old Phillipsburg girl with a BB gun.

Sgt. Jeffrey Mott, 30, shot the girl on Oct. 30, 1999, as she and her friends fled from the scene of a Mischief Night prank in Phillipsburg, police said. The incident began after someone threw a corn cob at Mott

[Alas]

I also remember the stories that old Mr.Parker would drill ya with rock salt if he caught ya in his watermellon patch.

Cabbage patches too.

[gumbo]

This man was convicted without any apparent evidence beyond the LATE claims of two vandalizing teenagers. This MUST be appealed.

You're absolutely right. If Sgt. Mott can't afford an appeal, I hope some decent lawyer (not entirely an oxymoron) will handle it pro bono.

[Travis McGee]

INCREDIBLE!!

[Fred Mertz]

The incident began after someone threw a corn cob at Mott’s front door and broke the screen, authorities said.

What happened to the little sluts for their crime?

[wardaddy]

To think we had BB gun wars as kids ....we'd wear sunglasses. We'd also replace the BBs with mimosa tree seeds for up close work....they stung more. LOL

[Travis McGee]

I'll take the 5th on that.

[Squantos]

I think I'm gonna design an air rifle that shoots chicago phone books at about 500 fps.............phone books don't leave bruises ya know :o)

One more situation where a nice little 100 pound rottweiller or two would have come in handy IMHO.....

Stay Safe !

[wardaddy]

LOL...at least we knew our Crossman and Benjamen .177 and .22 pellet rifles (pumps) were not suited for our "comabt". We reserved the "heavy guns" for sparrows, streetlights, squirrels, and whatnot.

Sigh...it was a great leave it to Beaver neighborhood bordered by famland and woods. Absolutely wonderful for growing up.

[jimt]

What would have happened had he given them the traditional send-off - a load of rock salt. The death penalty, I guess.

[g'nad]

We must all be Neanderthals...we've done the BB Gun tag thing, and I think we'd agree, breat fun, stupid idea, gettin' shot with a BB/pellet sucks but it ain't assault...

What a crock...

BTW, I still got the scar on my forehead where my buddy drilled me...looks cool...

[PsyOp]

My guess is the jury was made up of soccer moms who're recent arrivals in Warren County.

They should be lined up against the wall and shot in the a** with a BB gun until they "get it."

[Cap'n Crunch]

Not incredible, this is just about status quo in today's criminal justice system.

Don't know if you recall the juvenile drug dealer case I told you about, the one where the detective saw the kid flagging down cars in the drug area and I chased him? I later heard the judge told the prosecutor I was a "cowboy."

Yippie-Ki-Yay.

Kiddies are very coddled now adays.

[PsyOp]

How much time would I get for the BB that stuck in Clint's forehead?

Between that and your flagrant use of your BB Machine Gun (assault weapon), I'm afraid they would feel compelled to go for capital punishment on conviction. You'd be toast - literally.

[Khepera]

And here I was thinking I was the only one who played tag with BB guns. Long before there where paint ball guns we used BB and pellet guns. We wore motorcycle helmets with face shields for protection and Pump style guns could only have 2 pumps. Sure stopped the "I got you" "No you didn't" stuff.

[gumbo]

What happened to the little sluts for their crime?

I don't think the article says. Probably nothing. It's possible the two girls never admitted doing property damage -- the article says only that "someone" threw an object that broke Sgt. Mott's door ("...she and her friends fled from the scene of a Mischief Night prank in Phillipsburg, police said. The incident began after someone threw a corn cob at Mott’s front door and broke the screen...")

I'll email the reporter and post his answer if he replies.

[wardaddy]

At most they should have charged him with misdemeanor assault or reckless endangerment and the kids with vandalism and been done with it. This is stupid and overkill.

Another development on the gun rights encroachment theme is how a number of states now view misdemeanor spousal abuse convictions as grounds for permanent 2nd amendment revocation. I just learned yesterday that my homestate of Mississippi is doing that.

[Marine Inspector]

You and the rest of the gang were just jealous that you didn’t get the BB Machine Gun first. Anyway, it had the 2 to 3 second loud hiss that warned you what was coming, so that off sets the fact that I could put 100+ BB's down range in just a second or two. Coupled with the fact that I had to spend more on BB‘s and freon, then you guys, and the more I used the can of freon, to less power was behind the BB’s.

[droberts]

We used to play 'war' with .22 air pistols/rifles. The rule was you had to shout freeze first. If the enemy did not freeze you were allowed to fire (at extremities). Surprisingly, no one was ever that badly hurt.

[wardaddy]

As much fun as "small arms" combat was as a kid, the most dangerous youthful activity for me was playing full contact no pads football after ages 16 or so. 18-25 year old men running up and down the field slamming into one another always resulted in injury to a few. That and cafe style motorcycle riding in college pretending to be Kenny Roberts or Jay Springsteen was another sure recipe for disaster.

But all in all...being a young idiot was a blast....quite unlike being an old idiot.

[wardaddy]

We'd pump our .22 Benjamans up about 20 cranks or so to hunt squirrels or possums and whatnot. After viewing what they would do to those critters, we were a bit hesitant to use them for combat....always some psycho in the crowd who would not honour the 1 or 2 pumps maximum rule. Molotov cocktail arty contests in large drainage culverts were fun too....a little sugar and styrofoam bits mixed in. Booby trapping one's treehouse from rival gangs of hooligans was also a treat. Then there were always pipe bombs.....that was ended rather quickly when a friend making one in a coffee can dropped something in the powder in a can and decided to look for it with a lit match....he was our honourary Darwin member. His face is still pink and his eyebrows sparse from that some 30 odd years later.