300-Pound Drunken Hulk Smashes Stormtrooper, Ghostbuster
The childlike joy of America's Free Comic Book Day became a violent drama of assault and police firing taser guns when two costumed characters were attacked by a 300-pound drunken monster outside a comics shop in Portland, Maine, on Saturday.
A ghostbuster and a Star Wars stromtrooper were outside Portland's Coast City Comics during Saturday's nationwide Free Comic Book Day promotion when the massive 6'4" street lunatic assaulted the costumed heroes.
Both men were captured on video dancing on the street shortly before the attack:
Bobby Daggett, dressed as the Green Lantern, gave this harrowing eyewitness report to the Bangor Daily News:
“There were a bunch of people standing outside trying to drum up business and one guy was dressed as a Stormtrooper,” said Daggett. “Out of nowhere this guy tried to put [the guy in the Stormtrooper costume] in a chokehold from behind and then throws him to the ground. He was trying to be intimidating above him and screamed obscenities to everybody.”
The alleged assailant, 31-year-old Adam Barnes, was then confronted by five police officers. He reportedly tried to take them all on, like The Hulk, but the cops tasered him to the pavement.
Police Lt. Gary Hutcheson says Barnes was charged with assault, disorderly conduct and five charges of threatening the five police officers who took him down.
“I’ve been a cop for 23 years," Lt. Hutcheson said. "I’ve never heard of a Ghostbuster and a Stormtrooper getting assaulted."
UPDATE: The Stormtrooper, Owen Wood, has posted his report of the harrowing incident here on Kinja:
Hey, Ken Layne... I'm the stormtrooper who got choked by the hulk (for realz), and I'd like to think You're right, and we will have a story to tell for the rest of our lives... and I wouldn't mind if this turned in to free drinks at Port City Comicon, and every other celebration of Geek Culture I ever go to from now on.
And just to dispell some rumors flying around here, The Ghostbusters & I have jobs, don't live with our moms, own our own Cars (Ecto-1 was parked right there), we're passionate fun-loving people willing to invest our time, energy and money into things we enjoy, and we know how to behave in a civilized society ... So, in every possible way, we're different from Barnes aka The Incredible Bulk.
[Video via Comic Geeks Unite; Mug shot via Portland Police Department; top image by Jim Cooke.]