OK, read up? Good. Because it turns out we had similar event locally, only less successfully.
Bellingham, WA, Herald story of July 28th.
Jul, 28, 2008I hope the dog didn't get sick...
PUBLIC SAFETY
Man attacks woman at Ferndale ATM
KATIE REGAN
FERNDALE - A man grabbed a woman from behind and slashed her neck and face with a box knife while she was withdrawing money from an ATM Monday, July 28.
The 24-year-old woman, whose name was not released, was using the ATM outside the Whatcom Educational Credit Union branch, 5695 Barrett Road, about 8:30 a.m. when the man grabbed her.
She offered him her purse, but he didn't take it, said Ferndale Police Lt. Matt Huffman. The two struggled briefly before the man ran off, leaving her with several cuts on her neck and cheeks.
She was taken to St. Joseph Hospital, where doctors had to stitch up the cuts, according to the Ferndale Police Department.
Meanwhile, Ferndale police, assisted by the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, Bellingham Police officers with dogs, and Department of Homeland Security helicopters, tracked Joseph R. Smith, 20, to a nearby field, just off northbound Interstate 5 between mileposts 262 and 263.
Police lined the shoulder of the freeway and were staked out in various spots in the field for approximately 45 minutes, searching for Smith, who was hiding in the brush.
Police dogs found Smith in the field at about 9:43 a.m. He suffered a dog bite on a leg in the process.
Because... Bellingham Herald story of July 31st:
Jul, 31, 2008The really interesting article appeared in the Bellingham Herald on the 29th, though. It is an interview with the victim, with a photo. Some interesting tidbits:
PUBLIC SAFETY
Attempted murder charge filed against Ferndale attacker
KATIE REGAN
FERNDALE - The man accused of attacking a woman by a Whatcom Educational Credit Union ATM was charged with attempted murder Thursday, July 31.
Joseph R. Smith, 20, was charged with attempted second-degree murder with a deadly weapon, or in the alternative, first-degree assault with a deadly weapon. The dual charges mean a jury can consider either charge if the case goes to trial, said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christopher Quinn.
Attempted murder means the intent was to kill, and assault means the intent was to inflict great bodily harm, Quinn said.
On Monday, July 28, Smith allegedly attacked Samantha Shields, 24, with a box cutter, slashing her jaw and throat and leaving a 4-inch gash that cut into muscle, Shields said.
Credit union employees chased Smith away. Police found him about one hour later hiding in a nearby field. Smith admitted to the attack, said Ferndale Police Lt. Matt Huffman.
According to documents filed in Whatcom County Superior Court, Smith had finished a shift at the Ferndale McDonald's at about 5 a.m., then visited with a friend before walking to the bank.
He was waiting for it to open when he saw Shields. He thought she was attractive, and said he approached her to speak to her and considered touching her, according to the document.
Smith claimed he grabbed her shoulder and they both "freaked out" and fell to the ground, where he realized he "cut her." He then said he got scared and ran off, according to the document.
Shields gave a far different, and more violent, description of the incident. She said Smith grabbed her shoulder and then began slashing at her throat with the box knife when she turned around. She fell to the ground in an attempt to fight him off, where he continued to swing the knife until bank employees chased him away, she said.
She thought he was trying to kill her.
Smith is scheduled to be arraigned in court at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 8, where he will be advised of the formal charges against him and given a chance to enter a plea.
A status hearing and court date will be set at the arraignment, Quinn said.
Smith is being held in Whatcom County Jail on $1 million bail.
After a short manhunt, Joseph R. Smith, 20, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault with sexual motivation.24 court appearances between the ages of nine and twenty?!
(...)
Smith has a history of arrests and has appeared in court 24 times in the past 11 years, according to a search of Whatcom County courts. Most of the incidents were minor. The last arrest was in December on suspicion that he was hiding in clothes racks in the Bellingham TJ Maxx and Ross and grabbing women, according to court records.
She was taken to St. Joseph Hospital, where she received one set of stitches for the cut on her jaw and two sets for the 10-inch slash on her throat. Shields estimates she got a total of 50 stitches."The attack was so strange, because he wasn't holding me down or grabbing me or anything," she said. "All he wanted to do was cut my throat. He would have killed me if it weren't for the people in the bank."She also tried to give him her purse, because, after all, that's what you're supposed to do if some whackjob comes at you with a box cutter, right?
Quite a hubbub over comments to the original report of this crime apparently made by friends and family of said whackjob. Oddly enough, after the collective smack-down they received, they are not in evidence in later articles.
I still believe that, whether any form of identification and treatment is possible early on or not, once something like this has happened, the best treatment is a .38 Special soft nose to the back of the skull. Cheap, effective, and a 0% recidivism rate.
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