Only in San Francisco:
So, this guy meets this girl in a hacky-sack circle in early February. They get engaged two weeks later. They got in a fight on March 25, and the guy moves out–he moved into a tree in San Francisco’s McLaren Park no less.
He gets cold that first night, goes home, finds the apartment locked and empty, so he huddles up in the backyard, and before too long has passed, his now ex-fiancee comes back from a bar with an ex-Marine with “extensive combat experience”… she hears noises in the backyard, arms herself with a knife and goes out to investigate. The ex-Marine backs her up with a frying pan. (Some Marine–he lets the girl take point?)
The guy attacks them. They retreat to the house. The guy smashes the window and gets in a fight with the ex-Marine. The ex-Marine gets the guy in a headlock while the ex-fiancee gets a neighbor. Shirtless, the neighbor shows up with a can of bear spray and sprays the guy in the face. He throws a rock at the house and flees. He was arrested a few hours later and charged with two felonies.
In court, he was acquitted. Apparently, the ex-fiancee wasn’t a credible witness, and the ex-Marine suffered no apparent injuries. “There was no doubt [the guy] had a terrible night,” said the Deputy Public Defender, “but this case was grossly overcharged. You cannot commit a burglary if you have the right to be in a building. [The guy] had paid rent, made improvements to the house and still had some of his belongings inside.”
Here’s the full story, in the SF Chronicle: “Man Acquitted in Romantic Bear Spray Squabble.”
Don’t neglect the comments thread: “Nothing good ever comes out of a hacky-sack circle. Nothing.”
Well said.
