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View Full Version : Another idiot surfaces without even a red face. while the good guy gets embarrased!!!



Randy & Betty in Pa
02-21-2007, 01:07 PM
This is on aol news today... To me not only should the man NOT be charged but he should be treated as a hero stepping out to help an unknown person... As to the idiot with the loud porn movie... you'd think he would be smart enough to invest in headphones for his television...:mad:

Man Breaks Into Home Over Porn Screams
AP
OCONOMOWOC, Wis. (Feb. 21) - A man says he broke into an apartment with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his upstairs neighbor was watching.

"Now I feel stupid," said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in the case. "This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake."

According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning Feb. 12, damaging the frame and lock.

"Where is she?" Van Iveren demanded, thrusting the sword at the neighbor, the complaint said. "Where is she?"

The neighbor told police Van Iveren became increasingly aggressive as he repeated the question, insisting that he had heard a woman being raped. The complaint said that, with the sword pointed at him, the neighbor led Van Iveren throughout the apartment, opening closet doors to prove he was alone.

The neighbor later played for police the part of the DVD he believed Van Iveren heard downstairs.

Van Iveren, 39, of Oconomowoc, was charged with criminal trespass, criminal damage and disorderly conduct, all while using a dangerous weapon, and is due in court March 5. Together, the misdemeanor counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 months in jail.

Van Iveren said Tuesday that he heard a woman "screaming for help," grabbed the sword, bounded up the stairs, kicked in the apartment door and confronted the man who lived there.

"I intended to hold it behind my back and knock. But I froze and instead, what happened happened," he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Contesting his neighbor's account, Van Iveren said he didn't look anywhere in the apartment except the front room, and that he never threatened the neighbor with the sword.

"I had the sword extended. But that was all," he said.

Van Iveren, who lives with his mother in the downstairs apartment, said he did not call police when he heard the noises because he does not have a telephone. He said he barely knew the upstairs tenant.

Police seized Van Iveren's sword, which he said was a family heirloom.

end-----------------

Thank you James Van Iveren

Best to you all

R. from Pa

Rkitko
02-21-2007, 01:16 PM
However heroic, I still think it was a rather dumb move. Going into an unknown situation like that without contacting the authorities first wasn't bright. And lord only knows what my neighbors think of me when I give my cat a bath! She screams bloody murder. I'm not sure he should be charged, but he's definitely not a hero.

The neighbor later played for police the part of the DVD he believed Van Iveren heard downstairs.

And then they confiscated it for "evidence." ;)

ponytail
02-21-2007, 01:18 PM
I guess watching a horror film could have the same result. I'd better turn that volume down...:o

Eva
02-21-2007, 02:10 PM
Oh dear... I hope van Iveren doesn't decide to break down my door when I hurt... well, you know... :o

I think it's great that he acted right away when he thought someone was in danger. Calling the police would have been a good idea though. It would, in any case, have prevented this from happening.

Eva

RedjackRyan
02-21-2007, 02:11 PM
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.. I applaud his heroism and equally applaud his lack of judgement in not calling the police.

Eva
02-21-2007, 02:19 PM
It's kind of romantic too, isn't it? Although a bit in a misplaced way...
The neighbour to the rescue with his sword. I hope his pyjama's didn't look like a uniform from Napoleon's days... "En garde, you evil cochon! Where is the Lady!? I will rescue her from your peasant hands."

Eva

SongDragon
02-21-2007, 07:37 PM
Sounds like the lead in to a romantic comedy, "Man hears screaming, breaks in to woman's appartment... to find out she had screamed because of..." Well, I leave it to you to fill in that part. Something trivial. A nice "meet cute" of some sort which they are always using.

In this case even were I the good guy I would be embarassed... Breaking in with no idea what I'm up against. That is the police's job, as long as it isn't some city like Las Vegas where the police take quite a while to get around because the drivers are fearless.

~Song

sky
02-21-2007, 08:25 PM
It definatley wasn't very smart-----in fact it must be downright embarrassing for the man that broke in, but I admire him for at least doing something if he really believed someone needed help. I remember several cases many years ago where a couple of women were raped in public. One was outside an apartment in New York and people looked out of their windows and stood and watched while she was screaming for help and NOBODY called the police. men OR women. Later when reporters interviewed the bustanders they said it was becuase nobody else did anything. Not only did they not help---but they watched it!!! Can you imagine how crappy that women must have felt looking at people asking them to help her and they just stood there. It would really make you loose faith in all human kind (if you had any to start with). I think the guy that broke in the door should pay for damages he caused and that should be it.
Sky

SongDragon
02-21-2007, 08:47 PM
Ummm... I think you actually got that backwards. That was the Kitty Genevieve case. People said they didn't call the police because they figured someone else already had and they didn't want to be 'just one more person' calling in. It is a famous case, especially in psychology, when studying the displacement of responsibility. But they weren't 'not calling because no one else did'. Yet I am glad people, like this unfortunate person, have learned to do something... Though the best outcome would have been if he had, again, called the police.

~Song

Randy & Betty in Pa
02-21-2007, 10:09 PM
Welllllllll..

Though I am a strong supporter of law enforcement I also believe there are times when an individual MUST take matters into thier own hands... A matter of seconds could and has at times cost victim's their lives in the past. Had this been a rape or assault at knife point I am a believer that the appearence of a loud and somewhat determined defender for the victim could and would most likely be cause for the assailant to reconsider his course of action...True there are risks involved yet if the would be defender made enough noise somebody might call the police and if not at least the victim would have some hope of support... The defender in this case did not have a phone and further with all the horror stories about delays through the 911 system I would not want to gamble a loved ones safety on the effectiveness of that system.... There are heros out there....To me this man rates up there taking such personal risks for the safety of another (even in a mistaken situation such as this) as the man who dived in front of the subway train to protect another individual that was having a siezure.... I do support and applaud law enforcement for their efforts to make us safer but they cannot always be where needed in that split second when needed...

Prayers and best wishes to all of those they don't know they are heros until confronted with a situation where they take steps for others...

R. from Pa

DaveM
02-22-2007, 12:07 AM
I quite agree: the "by the book" thing to do would be to call the police (who I presume are not terribly busy in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin). Then again, if indeed a violent attack appeared to be in progress, could one truly expect them to show up in time to prevent serious injury or death? None of us can say what we would do in a similar situation unless and until we are faced by one. I think I would most likely go give the door a few sharp raps with a baseball bat--charging in with a sword isn't quite my style. I might dial 911 on the way out the door, but I honestly can't see myself calmly standing by the phone in the hope that the police would show up instantly.

Yes, I think this fellow should pay for the door repairs, but that's it. And he should get his sword back, albeit with a bit of a talking-to attached.

lucille
02-22-2007, 06:43 AM
Only in Oconomowoc:D