I believe I was assaulted according to the laws of my state... was I?

[satxer]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Vermont

I'm in the weight room yesterday and this roided out looking freak is throwing and slamming weights around VERY loudly. I mean louder than almost anyone I've ever seen. He is listening to his headphones, so between that and the loudness I actually thought he might be hard of hearing. I loudly called out "hey" to get his attention. He looks at me and I said "do you mind not slamming the weights please?"

At this point his face contorts into rage and he says "you got a xxxx problem with me? Huh?" He walks all the way across the room in an aggressive manner and stands just a few feet away talking xxxx. I seriously thought he was going to hit me. He began the initial motions of a punch but did not actually swing. Even though my back was to the wall and the exit was behind him, I didn't want to get in a fight in the xxxxx weight room at the YMCA, especially since he honestly looked like he was homicidal, so I grabbed my sh1t and left the room. He called me axxxx and a little xxx. There were witnesses.

I went upstairs and told the guy at the desk. He told me to fill out an incident report and that he would speak to the xxxx in question. I was still very agitated and so I left, telling the guy I would return the report later.
What would you have done in this situation? I believe that in my state of Vermont he would be guilty of assault, because this is one of the ways the state defines assault: "attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury."

Should I have called the cops? Can I still? Would I have had the right to knock him on his head? Would that have been the best idea?

Thanks...

 

[FlyingRon]

"Looking" homicidal isn't a crime.
Calling you a xx isn't a crime.
Slamming weights isn't a crime.
Yelling "You got a problem with that" is not a crime.
If he threatened to cause bodily injury to you, that is a crime.
You can always make a report to the police, but just because you felt that the guy might hurt you if you further provoked him is NOT assault.

 

[satxer]

Did you even read what I wrote? At what point did I imply any of those things that you said were not crimes, were crimes?

Let me phrase this again unambiguously: "He walks all the way across the room in an aggressive manner and stands just a few feet away talking ****. I seriously thought he was going to hit me. He began the initial motions of a punch but did not actually swing... my back was to the wall and the exit was behind him... he honestly looked like he was homicidal"

 

[CavemanLawyer]

It looks like Vermont's simple assault statute is pretty broad and could cover this nut's conduct but the problem is that the threat has to be to cause SBI (serious bodily injury), not just bodily injury and this is looked at from the standpoint of the actor. He has to intend to put you in fear of SBI when he "menaces" you. SBI is defined under section 1021 and while even a single punch could conceivably cause SBI, (serious concussion, broken jaw, facial scars) its hard to make the inference that he was specifically threatening to cause these kinds of results if he were to follow through with that punch.

Threatening to shoot or stab someone, or motioning in that manner, is a direct threat of SBI because these things will almost automatically cause that kind of damage. Threatening a punch to me is really just threatening bodily injury, not SBI, unless he made some statements suggesting more.

 

[satxer]

It looks like Vermont's simple assault statute is pretty broad and could cover this nut's conduct but the problem is that the threat has to be to cause SBI (serious bodily injury), not just bodily injury and this is looked at from the standpoint of the actor. He has to intend to put you in fear of SBI when he "menaces" you. SBI is defined under section 1021 and while even a single punch could conceivably cause SBI, (serious concussion, broken jaw, facial scars) its hard to make the inference that he was specifically threatening to cause these kinds of results if he were to follow through with that punch.

Threatening to shoot or stab someone, or motioning in that manner, is a direct threat of SBI because these things will almost automatically cause that kind of damage. Threatening a punch to me is really just threatening bodily injury, not SBI, unless he made some statements suggesting more.

Have you seriously never heard of someone being seriously injured or dying because they were punched or pushed back and their head landed on one object or another? If you get knocked out on a beach, you're probably going to be ok. If you get knocked out on a golf course, you will probably end up ok, although slightly more injured than if you'd been on a beach. But if someone hits you hard enough and your head falls on the cement, or JUST ABOUT ANYTHING IN A WEIGHT ROOM, you're pretty much xxxx . Hell, a well placed punch can kill you before you even hit the ground.

 

[Just Blue]

Your language is in violation of the TOS of this site. Please edit your post to remove the offensive language before you are reposted and banned form the site.

Thanks.

 

[Zigner]

Look, if you think you were assaulted, report it to the police. It's really that simple.

I hope you read this before you're booted, because I think you really do need help.

 

[satxer]

Look, if you think you were assaulted, report it to the police. It's really that simple.

I hope you read this before you're booted, because I think you really do need help.

Thank you for actually giving me advice.

Can an assault be reported the day after, even without injury? I only know of one witness, and he doesn't want to talk to the cops...

 

[>Charlotte<]

You've already been told that it's not illegal to do A, B, C, D, etc. and all you did was get your knickers in a knot because that's not what you wanted to hear. So, okay, what do you want to hear? That you can call the police and have him arrested and he'll go to jail and then you can sue him for eleventy million dollars? Fine. Call the police, have him arrested, then sue him for eleventy million dollars.

It is not illegal for this jerk to ask you what your problem is even though it might escalate into a physical brawl which might result in you falling down and possibly hitting your head and maybe dying.

Get some conflict resolution skills and learn how to handle this type of thing.

 

[satxer]

You've already been told that it's not illegal to do A, B, C, D, etc. and all you did was get your knickers in a knot because that's not what you wanted to hear. So, okay, what do you want to hear? That you can call the police and have him arrested and he'll go to jail and then you can sue him for eleventy million dollars? Fine. Call the police, have him arrested, then sue him for eleventy million dollars.

It is not illegal for this jerk to ask you what your problem is even though it might escalate into a physical brawl which might result in you falling down and possibly hitting your head and maybe dying.

Get some conflict resolution skills and learn how to handle this type of thing.

Did you hear the part where he basically charged me and cornered me in an agressive manner? Do you think conflict resolution skills work with a roid raging maniac? At no time did I instigate him after he freaked.

Oh wait, you didn't read my initial post so you decided to judge what happened without even knowing what I said.

 

[BOR]

Can an assault be reported the day after, even without injury? I only know of one witness, and he doesn't want to talk to the cops...

You can "technically" report any crime as long as it is within the Limitations of Prosecution.

 

[>Charlotte<]

Did you hear the part where he basically charged me and cornered me in an agressive manner? Do you think conflict resolution skills work with a roid raging maniac? At no time did I instigate him after he freaked. Oh wait, you didn't read my initial post so you decided to judge what happened without even knowing what I said.

Did you read the part where I said you can't arrest somebody because something MIGHT have happened?

You do know that none of the posters here are the ones who actually create the laws, right? What the heck do you want US to do? Make it illegal because you want it to be?

 

[BOR]

Did you read the part where I said you can't arrest somebody because something MIGHT have happened?

You do know that none of the posters here are the ones who actually create the laws, right? What the heck do you want US to do? Make it illegal because you want it to be?

Depending on the EXACT facts though, an Attempt charge could be possible.

 

[davew128]

I think I heard this story once. It was a Jerky Boys tape. Sol Rosenberg wanted to sue the bad person because he was hurt by his words and then fell down the stairs.