Thursday, February 22, 2007

Thin building material

OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) -- 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 February 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 scheduled to appear 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. (CNN)


I can scream my head off at home (for whatever purpose) and no one hears me. Or, maybe they hear me but they don't bother to check. I appreciate that this guy wanted to help out what he thought was a woman in distress. I think the circumstances are odd, but I feel bad that he might get jail time just for trying to help somebody out.

Edit: This is precisely why I'd rather have a man break into my home with a family heirloom sword to save me even though I was just watching a porno vs. ignoring my pleas for help when I'm being held hostage. Thanks for sharing that, Molly, and for being annoyed enough to call the cops.

10 comments:

Avitable said...

He'll probably just get probation or something light. Nobody will really want to see him get punished.

Melissa said...

At least he did something about it. That's more than a lot of people can say.

Also, I have noticed that all the really weird stuff happens in my state. Don't know why that is...

Also the second: Hi, I'm Missy! I've been reading for a long time, but never commented until now. :)

Anonymous said...

Have to agree with you, at least he tried to do something right... But his eyes sure are freaky looking, a little scary, in fact.

Bearette said...

me too. the sad thing is he will probably never want to help anybody again. talk about negative reinforcement!

don't call me MA'AM said...

Also sounds a bit fishy, don't you think? Lives with mom and has no phone. I'm just sayin'.

Poppy said...

The guy is a bit weird looking, but in many cultures it's normal to live with your parents (my 50+ year old uncle still lives with my grandmother) and not having a phone sounds pretty awesome to me. I don't see any reason to doubt his good intentions.

Poppy said...

The sword is a family heirloom. Lots of people have swords in their homes. Lots of normal people.

sourpuss said...

I would love to own a sword... but a medieval one, not a civil war one. This guy's facial hair makes me think he participates in those civil war re-enactments... he looks like he could put on the uniform & fit right in.

But, I digress. I agree it was decent of him to want to be all chivalrous (sp?) & help, and I don't think he should get jail time since he didn't hurt anyone and that didn't seem to be his intent.

I appreciate it seems lame that he still lives with his mom, but perhaps she's ill and he's caring for her. As for not having a phone, maybe they just can't afford it. It's not exactly cheap. For basic phone service & caller id, I pay CDN $40/mo.

I say we give him the benefit of the doubt. At least until they do a psych eval and find out he's loonier than a loon.

Stefanie said...

I love it when absurd stuff happens less than an hour from my home town.

Poppy said...

Pat, I'm glad you liked it because ironically I thought of you when I read this article. :) It just reminds me of the weird articles I find on your blog.