NEW GLASGOW - A Westville man who went to the aid of his son with a baseball bat during a ruckus in a coffee shop parking lot has been fined $385 and placed on 18 months of probation.
Frank Raymond Tucker, 61, of Acadia Avenue, Westville, was charged with assault with a weapon last September.
There are various accounts of how the altercation started but New Glasgow provincial court was told Tucker, who works part-time at a taxi stand near the coffee shop, took the wooden baseball bat into the parking lot because the man his son was fighting with was much larger.
Witnesses, including an off-duty Amherst police officer, said Tucker attempted to strike the bigger man with the bat and connected once at the man's ankle.
The man fighting Tucker's son called to another man for help and he got out of his vehicle with a hatchet or two-headed axe in hand. This individual approached the two on the ground, stepping forward each time the senior Tucker did.
Defence lawyer Sandy MacKay insisted the bat was meant to intimidate and break up the fracas. He suggested Tucker would have had no trouble striking a more serious blow if that was what he intended. The "nature of the people in the parking lot" gave Tucker good reason to be concerned, he added.
Crown prosecutor Herman Felderhof countered that Tucker could have called the police rather than join in swinging a bat. He said Tucker should consider himself lucky he did not do more damage with his blow.
Felderhof added residents of the community ought to be able to go to a coffee shop without having to witness people fighting and swinging baseball bats.
Tucker is prohibited from having any sort of firearm for three years and must provide a DNA sample for a national data registry. He must also take counselling for anger management and abide by other conditions of probation.
Man gets probation for wielding baseball bat
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Comments
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- Chris
- - January 18th, 2010 at 13:29:29
hahaha ok Rhonda , you are reading my post the way you want to hear it for the sake of arguement, im not going to indulge you anymore. I never said it was right, i just said dont blame him. If it was my son at any age i would have a hard time not trying to help, hard to sit there and watch while you WAIT for the cops to show up
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- Chris
- - January 18th, 2010 at 13:28:00
Rhonda, i guess you didnt read the last line of my post. plus what was he supposed to do sit there and watch his son get beat up while he waits for the police?? its not a perfect world Rhonda, stop living like an ostrich
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- Rhonda
- - January 18th, 2010 at 13:18:46
personally andy-i couldn't give a rats behind if you or anyone else agree or disagree,go buy mr tucker a coffeee and ask him how probation feels with a criminal record for the rest of his life,think he would rather it be you,than him?
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- Rhonda
- - January 18th, 2010 at 13:13:18
no it's not a perfect world Chris,that's why we have laws,by having a 3rd party enter into a mix-up could possibly lead to a gang like riot from other friends butting in-some people-you included Chris don't seem to be able to take a whack in the head and let it rest,i am sure Mr.Tucker feels right now that he did the wrong thing by interfering,some day when you grow up you may have the sense that god gave a billy goat and understand also.
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- Chris
- - January 18th, 2010 at 12:57:26
yes, and what about the other two. the way i see it mr. tucker is the least guilty here of anyone. what father wouldnt do what he did. i know you cant take the law into your own hands, but when situations like that arise im sure his first thought was his sons safety... call the police?? arond here?? hahahah
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- Frank
- - January 18th, 2010 at 12:45:35
BOO HOO HOO RHONDA
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- kevin
- - January 18th, 2010 at 12:39:38
what is done about the guy with the axe?
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- henry
- - January 18th, 2010 at 12:33:50
The comments above are hiliarious. LOL
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- telly
- - January 18th, 2010 at 12:31:52
It shouldn't have been too hard to find a cop, after all it was in a coffee shop parking lot. Maybe the real problem was the place didn't sell donuts, so no police could be found. But there must have been some close by because there was an off-duty Amherst cop there.
But seriously, two people are fighting in public, another two have a bat and an axe and only the guy with the bat gets charged? -
- Rhonda
- - January 18th, 2010 at 12:02:47
maybe if Mr.Tucker had taken the time to call the police Chris,He wouldn't be on probation right now-two wrongs never made a right.
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- andy
- - January 18th, 2010 at 11:43:16
Sorry Rhonda, but I have to agree with Chris. NOt saying that hitting anyone with a bat is the right thing to do, but if your child is getting beat, you wouldn't be able to watch without wanting to do something. Fatherly instinct.
