Man, 82, to Get New Cane After Whack

[BEB]

http://www.bismarktribune.com/articl.../d8n5460g0.txt

Man, 82, to Get New Cane After Whack

SEATTLE - An 82-year-old Seattle man whose walking stick was damaged when he struck a younger man who witnesses say had doused him with lighter fluid is getting a replacement cane from the Seattle Police Officers' Guild.

Gus Jones responded to the Jan. 31 downtown Seattle attack by smacking his assailant with his cane. Police say the attacker then ran over to two women, doused them with lighter fluid and lit a match, singeing their coats and one woman's hair. The women were not seriously injured.

Paul Pearson, 50, arrested shortly after the attacks, has been charged with two counts of first-degree assault.

The older man survived the ordeal with just a cut to his ring finger. His cane, however, was bent in the attack and rendered unusable.

When the Police Guild heard about the case, its board decided to buy Jones a replacement aluminum cane, inscribed with his name, said Sgt. Richard O'Neill, guild president.

"Hopefully he won't have to whack someone with it," O'Neill said, adding guild leaders hope to give Jones the cane on Monday.

"Maybe if he didn't take the action he did, more people could've been hurt," O'Neill said. "He was going to fight back _ he wasn't going to be a passive victim."

[Piggybank Cop]

[jmur5074]

Good for him