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DA: Scooter driver smashes woman's window with helmet, gets head smashed by woman's husband outside court
By adamg on Tue, 07/19/2011 - 5:10pm
Freedberg (l), Castro-LaboyA man leaving court yesterday on charges he smashed in the window of a woman he claimed cut him off found himself under attack when the woman's husband grabbed his helmet and hit him in the head with it, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
The alleged helmetting happened outside Brighton District Court, where Nathaniel Freedberg, 51, of Allston, had just been arraigned on a charge of malicious destruction of property.
According to the DA's office, Freedberg was puttering down Allston Street on his Vespa PX150 scooter Sunday afternoon when he felt he was cut off. Rather than just sitting there, stewing, Freedberg sped after the woman and caught up with her on Comm. Ave, where he took off his helmet and repeatedly smashed her window until it shattered, showering her with broken glass as her four-month-old son sat in the back seat, the DA's office says:
Emergency medical technicians treated the woman for minor injuries at the scene. An independent witness told responding Boston Police that Freedberg was yelling throughout the incident, "You [expletive] bitch, you ran me off the road."
As Freedberg was leaving the court following his arraignment, the woman's husband, Fernando Castro-Laboy, 34, of Jamaica Plain, grabbed him, the DA's office reports:
After a brief struggle on the sidewalk outside the courthouse, Castro-Laboy allegedly grabbed Freedberg's helmet and struck him in the head with it.
Court officers assigned to the Academy Hill Road courthouse responded to the fight and separated the parties. At that point, Castro-Laboy reached around the officer and struck Freedberg once more in the face. The court officers notified Boston Police, who responded and took Castro-Laboy into custody.
"I [expletive] him up," he allegedly told the officers. "You don't mess with someone else's family."
Freedberg was transported to nearby St. Elizabeth's Hospital and is expected to survive.
Castro-Laboy was ordered held in lieu of $500 bail. A judge originally scheduled an Aug. 24 hearing date, but prosecutors will seek to change that because it's the same day Freedberg is due back in court.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
Sweet
feel good story of the day
I will admit
The irrational, mama-bear part of my brain is totally cheering this guy on.
Which one?
The road raging scooter driver - who the baby on board express likely didn't see while looking in the back seat to see if PWECIOUSS BAYYBEEE was STILL there ...
Or the idiot husband who doesn't get the judicial system?
I bet he "gets the judicial system" just fine
Which is exactly why he did what he did.
His wife gets, what?
4 month old baby = likely driving distracted and lacking sleep to the point of drunkenness.
But that's OK in MA because SHE WAS DRIVING A PWESHUS BAYYBBEEE!
That man of hers needs some prison time - premeditated attempted murder.
Yeah, sure
I'd love to see what his record looks like. I somehow doubt he learned about the likely penalties because he works for the DAs office.
Troll harder, anon. I barely
Troll harder, anon. I barely even managed an eyeroll.
eye-roll
looks like Castro-Laboy managed a couple.
I also heard...
That Castro-Laboy came to the station the night before and attempted to bail out Freedberg.
oh my
Would that be Nat Freedberg, aka Lord Bendover? oh dear. soiling his hands with the unwashed masses...how dweadful.
Yes, that is indeed Lord
Yes, that is indeed Lord Bendover - Friend of a Friend of the Working Class.
more like
Friend of a Friend of Whoopin Ass.
"If I were you I'd run right out and buy myself a shovel
And I dig right down to hell cuz that's way above my level,
Man I'm gonna drag you down to my level."
Taken the woman's child away.
Taken the woman's child away. Clearly it's a violent home, what with one parents attacking people on the sidewalk and the other parents trying to kill people with her car. Social services needs to move in now.
Both wrong
I dunno. I've caught up with someone who almost caused a collision (I on motorcycle, she making left turn in car) but I didn't smash her window, I just explained that had we collided she'd have a dent in her car and I'd be dead, so it was a big deal to me and I hoped she'd be more careful in the future.
Yeah, Freedberg was clearly in the right.
Smashing the windshield of a car with a woman and small child inside- that's showing 'em who's boss. Takes a real man to stand up to women and toddlers.
I might have done the same thing as Laboy, come to think of it.
Castro-Laboy looks berserk in
Castro-Laboy looks berserk in that photo.
Riiight?!
I told you that bitch crazy.
My love for you is ticking clock
BERSERKER!
Like
I got it
Cage
How about we put the two of them into a ring for some cage-fighting and let them work this all out.
The scooter driver on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson
He's the lead singer:
I love the husband's crazy
I love the husband's crazy look in the mug shot. Epic.
mistakes of Castro-Laboy
1. Attacked the guy.
2. Attacked the guy outside a courthouse.
3. Attacked a guy who looks like that. There's a chance he's ex-military and about to whup yo ass with German commando kung-fu or some shit.
A guy with anger management issues and third-world sensibilities, fighting a guy with anger management issues who is tough not to care if people see him riding a scooter. No good could come of that fight.
re: "German Kung-fu"
I'm pretty sure a guy named Nat Freeburg doesn't know German kung-fu...
He is singer in a band that dresses like poofs from the Victorian era.
Too early for Victorian -
Too early for Victorian - these guys are definitely holdovers from the Hanover reign.
Definitely Georgian
Pre-Regency.
first it was wendi deng's
first it was wendi deng's reaction to the murdoch protestor, then it was this. it was a good day for family payback.
Where have I seen that look before?
http://assets.starz.com/Starz_com/Horz_Art_685x385...
Freedberg undercharged?
"Malicious destruction of property"- is that all you get for breaking the windshield of an occupied, presumably moving, vehicle? Seems to be the same charge a person could catch for smashing a recalcitrant vending machine or a copier or something. In Freedberg's case, I would think Conley could've gone to "assault", at the very least.
Maybe if there was any remote possibility of Freedberg doing a couple weeks in jail for attacking the dude's wife and 4-month old kid, Castro-Laboy wouldn't have felt it necessary to go all vigilante on him.
Are you joking?
Two options for Castro-Laboy here if he felt slighted by a lowball charge:
1) Speak to the DA about getting stronger charges drawn up.
2) Attempt to bail the guy out just to beat him to death in the street.
By choosing #2 over #1, it's clear that the problem here was just that he was getting the lesser charge...
Not joking at all
"Speak to the DA"- and what if he says "Well, blah, blah, blah, sorry but blah"? (Fairly likely). There's an excellent chance Freedberg gets no penalty whatsoever for this fairly outrageous and cowardly attack. As in "pretrial probation", "continued without a finding", "charge dismissed". Certainly nothing to get his wig out of joint about. Hell, we might not have even heard about this little road rage incident if it wasn't for Laboy making it more interesting to the BPD's PR guy, with the result that they elected to report on it. I find Castro-Laboy's actions pretty understandable. Freedberg clearly needed an ass-kicking, and he got one. This is the guy's wife and baby, for Christ's sake. Laboy should try out one of those "temporary insanity" defenses- it seems to work for some people.
By that logic
Using the Dan F. Theory of Retributive Ass Whooping, Castro-Laboy's wife needs a face rearrangement, not just a broken window. She was probably good as drunk with lack of sleep and distracted by spit up while driving. Maybe she should get driving lessons or stay off the road unless she isn't impaired.
Not saying what Lord Bendover did was good - just following Farnkoffing "logic" about what should happen to reckless people who endanger others using his concepts of "crime" and "punishment".
It would actually be MORE understandable, under Farnikoffish Notions, had he pulled her from the car and kicked her to the curb (Yeah! Attempted Murder by Car Avenged! Go! Score!) instead of just attacking THE CAR when you consider that MA rarely penalizes poor drivers for anything ever at all - not even in the cost of insurance - and has no reporting system for impaired drivers and near accidents and absolutely no interest in training drivers properly to begin with.
I doubt Violent Husband Man was that aware of how the legal system works - unless he's experienced the court system from the other side numerous times ... This sounds much more like MANLY VIOLENCE MAN wanted a "justified" fight for "messing with his PROPERTY" - like picking a bar fight, but its a freebee.
DSS should seriously investigate that home. How long until he shakes the baby?
Both you and Kaz are assuming a lot of facts not in evidence
Freedberg "thought he was cut off", then screamed "You ran me off the road!" That's all I got from the article. Who knows if he even had the right car? And how do you know he's such a great driver himself? Because you ride a bike, a motorcycle, or a scooter? "Attempted murder by car"- no doubt such things occur, but was that what happened here? Where did you get that from? This upper-crumbum thug Freedberg probably cut her off, then lost control of his scooter. He was probably tripping on acid at the time. Nothing worse than a moderately famous, privileged bully. Anyway, I bet you $10 that Laboy does some time and Freedberg doesn't. Which is a bad thing for wife and kid, and is to my mind the best argument for Laboy's actions being stupid and self-defeating.
How about this
By Farnkoffing Principles of Retributive Beat Down, Bendover's significant other - heck, even his aggrieved fan base - is now entitled to attack the Castro-Laboy family in their home and burn it to the ground as their Lord's honor was besmirched and his person violently attacked by Sir Psycho Castro-Laboy.
Who should do time for premeditated attempted murder, IMHO.
Moreover, since people like you refuse to understand that Farnkoffing Principles of Endless Revenge are one reason we have a judicial system to sort things out in civilized society and think this psycho should walk on the basis of MANLY PROTECTING OF HONOR!!!!!, maybe said hypothetical significant other/fans should too? It all follows quite nicely from Farnkoff Pseudologic.
You getting the point yet?
Oh, as for "facts not in evidence", well FARNKOFFING LOGIC says I don't need any - just a reason to be aggrieved without any evidence or facts is ALL I need to justify attacking and beating another person. Funny how you bring up things like facts and evidence - which you reject when you reject the judicial system - when you have been steadily asserting that an emotional reaction to attack on property is sufficient justification for brutality.
Glad You're Not My Lawyer
Malicious Destruction of Property: up to 10 years in prison
Assault: Up to 2 1/2 years in jail
Getting your head smashed in is probably punishment enough, so he probably won't do any time at all now.
Also, BPD's PR guy is a girl.
Where are those statutes?
My book reads:
Malicious Destruction of Property= NMT 3 years in State Prision
2 Counts of ABDW (glass)= NMT 10 years for each count.
On the MGL Site
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/Part...
"Whoever destroys or injures the personal property, dwelling house or building of another in any manner or by any means not particularly described or mentioned in this chapter shall, if such destruction or injury is wilful and malicious, be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years..."
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/Part...
"Whoever commits an assault or an assault and battery upon another shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 2 1/2 years in a house of correction..."
Yeah, but they always use the
Yeah, but they always use the charge of assault with a deadly weapon, even if the supposed weapon is a hand, foot, or the ground.
Not correct
Assault with a deadly weapon only applies to the hand or foot if they have an implement. For the hand, that would be like brass knuckles. However, what you're probably thinking of is a "shod foot". If your foot is in a shoe, then the two together can be considered a deadly weapon.
You are crazy
"I find Castro-Laboy's actions pretty understandable."
It's understandable to bludgeon a man in the head just because he broke your car window and scared your wife days prior? That's "understandable" to you in a civilized society?
You either truly believe that crap that you're peddling, which makes you as anti-social and psychotic as Castro-Laboy in attacking a man on the street.
OR you don't believe it and you are just using it to try and maintain your argument against Freedberg because you have some inherent ill will towards him because you consider him to be the initial protagonist in your algebra of this situation.
Either way, you're nuts and not worth any more discussion on the topic.
And I think you're defending Freedberg too much.
So there you go. The woman was injured, Kaz. The kid could have been as well. You must also be some kinda antisocial psycho, to defend that prick.
Antisocial psycho
Is the one saying that "the hell with the judicial system - I like a gooood beat down!".
It's what Robert Parker's Spenser would do....
...and isn't he a Boston icon of sorts?
So is Whitey Bulger
Hey, let him go - just 19 murders at a minimum, but so much honor!
Defending him? O RLY?
Should I bold them for emphasis too, or do you just want to intentionally mis-characterize my position some more because it fits your argument better?
Ding, check please.
Sorry, it was easy to miss your very mild disclaimer
Amidst all that empathy for the deranged scooter guy and his (theoretical) near-death experience. But I'll be sure to read more carefully next time. But you understood his emotions, right? You could almost (but not quite) see yourself doing what he did? I feel the same way about the other guy. For me, scooter guy is more of a scumbag because the victims of his assault were a young woman and a small child. I'm old-fashioned that way, I admit.
Dong, so long.
Matters of timing
Having almost been wiped out by a driver with her phone in her hand nonchalantly taking my lane with me in it by overtaking me from back and to the right, I can completely understand this guy's reaction. However, I don't condone his decision to break her window. The fact that she almost runs him over already suggests that she has no consideration for his life...so it's likely she also had complete disdain for any verbal complaints he had that she nearly snuffed him out on the road (hell, at least in my situation the woman rolled her window down...just to tell me she didn't care that she almost killed me). I've been in exactly that situation before. Your adrenaline is going through the roof because not only did you just have a near-death meeting with the asphalt because of someone not paying enough attention, but then they're going to sit there in their protective little box of a vehicle and argue with you about how they don't care they almost killed you? Who the fuck do they think they are!? Right? Maybe if they only got a feeling of how scared for your life you just were, then they'd be even a smidge more considerate of other drivers on the road with them! Yeah! *smash*
However, the cheering for Castro-Laboy going on here for smashing this guy's head in days later with his own helmet? Castro-Laboy wasn't moments from death...he wasn't reacting to the moment, just seconds before, when his wife was suddenly scared for her life...he calculated bailing this guy out of jail (trusting Pete on this one). He went to court that day *planning* to exact some revenge on this guy for breaking his car's window and scaring his wife. That's not adrenaline or "in the moment"...that's anti-social criminal intent.
Neither guy is a winner here, but Castro-Laboy is a psycho whereas Freedberg needs some self control.
What?
A frontman with self-control issues?
How rare.
Agreed...
Both of them come across as fools. Castro-Laboy manages to earn the additional title of psychotic fool. One whose actions (assuming a prior record) might separate him from his kid for a while. Come to think of it, that might be a good thing.
I'd like to see what
I'd like to see what everyone's comments after they themselves, and their infant child had been viciously attacked by some deranged psycho....there is no way that cutting g someone off could ever justify such violence; this man attacked a woman, shattering her car window and cutting her arm, the baby was unharmed but was put in harms way. Glass could have gotten in the baby's eyes/mouth....anyone who does not see the seriousness is an idiot and anyone who can't understand the fathers actions is obviously not a parent! This road-roager learned the hard way that you cannot go through life bullying people, especially woman and children!
Lord Bendover
Nathaniel is a big, strong looking guy. Surprised he could not handle
the psycho who attacked him....
And as a guy who rides his motorcycle (and bicycle) around town, I
can testify to the fact that clueless _cage_ drivers are a regular
threat to us two wheelers....