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Summary: The
morning sports talk team of Bob Fescoe and Steven St. John of WHB-810 thought a
brutal assault (cracked ribs, bite wounds, facial cuts) on a San Diego TV
reporter was extremely funny. As an alert reader pointed out:
"It's sad how "sports
talk radio" personalities try to distance themselves from 'the media' whenever
it's convenient, but then cry "First Amendment!" protection whenever doors are
shut in their face (i.e. WHB "reporters" having their press credentials pulled
by the Royals)?
"I was disgusted
listening to these three guys this morning go on and on about how happy they
were to see someone in their own industry suffering from such a savage attack."
Video:
http://video.fox6.com/viewer/viewerpage.php?Art
_ID=221049&PreloadContract_DefID=1&Contract_DefID=2&limit=8&tf=xetvviewer.tpl&Category_ID=5
Cameraman keeps shooting as television
reporter attacked in SD
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO - A television reporter was bitten and beaten as he and his cameraman,
who captured the attack on video, tried to do a story on a couple they believed
were involved in a real estate scam.
Reporter John Mattes of Fox 6 News sustained cracked ribs, bite wounds and cuts
to his face during Tuesday's confrontation with the couple, identified by
authorities as Assad "Sam" Suleiman, 36, and his wife, Rosa Amelia Barraza, 33.
Mattes accused Suleiman of stealing identities so he could buy houses and then
rent them to others, according to Fox 6.
In television footage, Mattes and cameraman Dennis Waldrop are seen talking to a
man outside a La Jolla area home when a woman arrives and starts screaming and
swearing at them. She sprays a bottle of water at the pair and strikes Mattes in
the face with the plastic container.
A man, identified as Suleiman, arrives, gets out of a car and heads for Mattes.
He punches him in the face and head and puts him in a headlock.
Brian Phillips, the man who was about to be interviewed, is seen trying to pull
Suleiman off Mattes. The three fall to the ground, where Suleiman continues to
kick at Mattes.
"He literally just came flying straight at me ... and I am feeling someone
ripping at my face, pulling at my hair," Mattes told Fox 6. "We are talking
about someone gouging, scratching and biting me."
The camera showed Mattes after the attack with blood streaming down the side of
his face. During the struggle, Barraza was seen waving something above the
trio but a passer-by took it away from her. Police Lt. Dan Christman later
identified the object as a perfume bottle.
Barraza, who during the confrontation threatened to get a gun, was booked for
investigation of making a terrorist threat, displaying a deadly weapon, battery,
and theft for allegedly stealing the cameraman's microphone, Christman said.
The lieutenant said Suleiman was booked for investigation of felony assault.
Police Detective Gary Hassen said the pair posted bail Tuesday night.
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