Posted on 05/06/2008 3:22:47 AM PDT by marktwain
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - In one corner an aggressive panhandler. In the other a disabled, wheelchair-bound Vietnam veteran who turned out not to be the underdog.
When the two met up five days ago in northeast Albuquerque the attacker became the attacked.
Gary Gould said the attempted mugging had him fighting for his life reminding him of what it was like fighting for his life in Vietnam.
"I can't walk; I'm paralyzed," he told KRQE News 13 today. "I got blown up in Vietnam.
"I've been in a chair for 38 years."
Gould, 58, is safe at home now miles away from the Billiard Palace where he took a break from playing pool last Thursday. He said he went out back to smoke a cigarette when a man approached him asking for money.
"He put his hand out like this," Gould said. "I said, 'I don't have any money. Get out of my face, man.'"
Melvin Romero should have listened he didn't. Instead he then demanded money and repeatedly stabbed Gould with a pair of scissors, according to a criminal complaint.
Gould has some marks and bruises now, but Romero's the one who ended up hurt the most.
"When he stabbed me, I grabbed him, and I wrestled him to the ground," Gould said. "Every time he kept trying to get back up, I had to knock him back down.
"They transported him, and I heard he lost a pint of blood."
Romero wasn't booked into jail until Monday four days after the attack because that's how long it took him to recover in the hospital.
Gould said he exercises a lot, something Romero probably didn't expect.
"I'm just hoping god gets a hold of him," Gould said. "It's his only hope.
"What does it take for these people to realize I'm in this chair for a reason, but it doesn't mean I'm disabled."
While the suspect spent several days in the hospital Gould went home from the hospital the same day of the attack.
"I had to restrict myself from taking that man's life," Gould said.
Romero is charged with aggravated battery with great bodily harm. He's a transient with a lengthy criminal history, according to police.
He remains in jail under a $25,000 bond.
Where did it say he had a gun?
Did he have a gun? For some reason, I’m not reading that. Sounds like it was a good old fashioned beat-down.
“I’m just hoping god gets a hold of him,” Gould said. “It’s his only hope.
I hope God does get a hold of him and the author.
That’s a great story! Nice work, mister Gould!
By the way, I guess this reporter is afraid to capitalize God? sissy.
He's a transient with a lengthy criminal history, according to police.The Democrat party method for dealing with crime...
“When he stabbed me, I grabbed him, and I wrestled him to the ground,” Gould said. “Every time he kept trying to get back up, I had to knock him back down.
“They transported him, and I heard he lost a pint of blood.”
Some scumbag tries to prey on an “easy mark” and gets a big ole’ can of whoopa$$ dumped on him instead.
This kind of thing just starts the day off right, y’know?
Where are 3 strike laws when we need them?
Amen...
A feelgood beatdown to start the mornin right...NEVER underestimate a man that drags his body weight around 24/7 with his arms...
That thug better have a good story for his injuries when he gets in jail.
A crippled guy in a wheelchair did what to you?
Now theres a guy with pride, conviction & morals.
Ah, the old “pint of blood” technique! WTG, Gould!
Many wheelchair bound people have tremendously strong arms and hands. It is a serious mistake to think that they are helpless just because they are in a wheelchair (something Romero found out the hard way).
ping
Good for him! Stupid panhandler! he needs a life!
luggin body + chair weight around with only shoulders/arms makes for a very stout upper body...the only real advantage is in height/reach, but a bud o mine solves that by snatchin the arm rail off the side of the chair...and if that dont reach out and touch enough theres always magnum force...
This is why I told my kids never get into it with a belligerent handicaped person, “You might lose. And if you win, well, you beat up a cripple.”
Wow...Maybe the wheelchair bound Vet will get a handgun and avoid the strain next time. :-) But it sounds like he did pretty good without one! Imagine having to explain to your buds that you got your butt whooped by a guy in a wheel chair! HA! No “points” for that one! :-)
And, as I said, if you get outta range there are always tools to improve his 'reach'...heheheheh...
Beautiful day here, hoping the same for you and yours...
LFOD...
It’s a REALLY nice day here! I’m working from the house today, so I get to step outside every now and then.... MUCH different from being in the bowels of the datacenter down the road! :-)
The more I look at this story the more I realize that the a$$hole who wrote it, Tim Maestas, it is a criminal loving liberal. The criminal was armed with scissors and tried to rob someone. This doesn't make him and "agressive panhandler." It makes him an "armed robber."
It's a beautiful thing.
That was some pretty poor writing.
heheheheh...
There still is many who need to be taught to never say, You can’t touch me!”
Concurred. Lower-case indeed!
re: “aggressive panhandler”
Gee, would that be the kind of aggressive panhandler that scared Obama’s white granny, leading him to humiliate her years later before millions of people because she did not wish to face the shake-down at the bus stop every day? I’m still waiting for Obama to apologize to granny - maybe if she had been able to kick the guy’s ass like this Obama would have called her a racist for defending herself.
:)
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