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Old August 18, 2001, 09:32 AM   #3
Jffal
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 1, 1999
Posts: 364
A few points...

Ayoob did chronicle a number of knife self defense cases in one of his firearm magazine articles. I have the issue somewhere upstairs. In several cases, the assailants were killed. In another incident, Ayoob wrote about an elderly Filipino immigrant assaulted by several thugs and used a pair of blades and his martial art training to slice them all into still living but bloody pieces.

Citizen self defense with knives do make tv and rag news but recieve as much publicity as successful gun self defense incidents do, maybe even less. Here is a case which occurred locally. You will note some conflicting detail, especially about the knife in question. The pop of one of the punks provides some grim comedy relief. I have no further update to make to this case....and I have been keeping my eye open for any new scraps of information.
Jeff

Philadelphia Daily News
December 21, 1999
DA: Punks get beat by victim
5 in car had stopped to attack; he hurt 2 by Christine Bahls Daily News Staff Writer
 It was a bad mix, said Bucks County District Attorney Alan Rubenstein: Five punks, some malt liquor, and the opportunity for a fight.
"They were looking for trouble, and they found it," he said. The youths, who police say attacked a Middletown Township man, became the victims. The man, armed with a knife he used in work, seriously hurt two of the five.
The group looked for trouble in an interesting spot: A parking lot across the street from the Falls Township Police Department, Rubenstein said.
"I guess they could have attacked him in the squad room, but they didn't think of that," he quipped yesterday. He held a press conference to announce who would be charged - and who wouldn't - in the Dec. 4 free-for-all.
Rubenstein, flanked by Falls Township Police Chief Arnold Conoline, said all five teens will be charged with conspiracy, aggravated assault and related offenses. The charges are coming weeks after the fact, Rubenstein said, because one of the kids was in the hospital for some time.
The five - one of whom is on probation for fighting - were expected to turn themselves in to authorities yesterday. One of them, Daniel DiRenzo, 18, of Apple Street in Middletown Township, will be charged as an adult.
The intended victim, John Ohler, 23, will not be charged, Rubenstein said.
"This was a matter of self-defense," Rubenstein said. "Without the knife, it could have been a homicide. He was overwhelmed, he was overpowered. He did what he should have done, he defended himself." But according to DiRenzo, it was Ohler who started fighting. "He's getting away with everything that he started," said DiRenzo. Here's what happened, according to the police investigation: Ohler, who works at Frank's Nursery on Lincoln Highway, was walking home from there about 11 p.m. when the five youths, all from Lower Bucks, pulled up in a red Subaru. One of them said something nasty; Ohler returned in kind. The Subaru entered the parking lot. One of the kids got out, and he and Ohler started fighting.
"The victim was winning the fight," Rubenstein said. "When the others saw this, they got out. He was lifted off the ground, dropped and pummeled."
At some point, Ohler unhooked the work knife, which had a serrated 4- to 5-inch blade, and began wildly swinging. He knicked the heart of one boy; he got the back and chest of another. Rubenstein said the knife had a legitimate use, so Ohler had every right to carry it. At this point, Falls cop Jeff Omlor was arriving for work when he saw the ruckus. He saw Ohler on the ground being kicked by at least two of the kids. The kids tried to flee, police said, but Ohler got to their car and slashed a tire. He and two of the attackers needed serious medical attention. DiRenzo said Ohler was ready to fight when the car entered the parking lot and that he pulled out the knife during the initial struggle. He agreed that driving into the lot was not smart. "It was a dumb thing to do, but not dumb enough to go to jail for," he said. One of the juveniles said in an interview that Ohler had thrown the first punch. Jumping the guy, he said, "was not the idea at all." A source with knowledge of the investigation said one of the youngster's statements to police concurred with Ohler's version. Conoline said Ohler did not ask for the beating. "This fight was not provoked by Mr. Ohler. These kids stopped their vehicle. They could have kept on going. They ended up meeting a match here."
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