Five Hobos Complain of Chainsaw-Wielding Terror

Not me. I'm an ether & catspaw man myself.

Prophet. Hero. American.

The stories unfold like scenes from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, only this isn't Texas and the alleged victims claim the roaring sound of the chainsaw is very real.

For months, five homeless men have complained to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department that they have been terrorized by a local businessman known to them only as ``the Chainsaw Man.''

They say he chases them through fields and over railroad tracks, armed with a chainsaw, and has even shot at them with a pistol.

A Broward judge has ordered Stephen Sticht to stay away from the homeless men and relinquish any weapons -- including the chainsaw. But he may face criminal charges if civil rights and homeless advocates have their way.

Sticht denies the claims. He says the men are trying to get back at him for constantly calling the cops to discourage them from loitering near his home and construction-consultant business, which are off Dixie Highway near 13th Street in Fort Lauderdale.

He says he uses the chainsaw to cut down brush in the shaded areas where the men -- who have criminal records -- rest during the day and sleep at night. The ''gunshot'' the men heard may have been from his high-powered nail gun, he said.

''It's a witch hunt. These guys are crackheads,'' said Sticht, 49, whose business is a stone's throw from where the homeless men congregate. ``All these allegations are fabrications. It's like they came up with this grandiose story and now I am made out to be the bad guy.''

Brother, you're preaching to the choir.

Wanted posters with pictures of the homeless men and the words ''crackhead'' and ''male prostitute'' have been posted in storefronts and on light poles around Dixie Highway and 13th Avenue, an area notorious for high drug activity and crime.

Though Sticht denies having anything to do with the posters, the men have said he snapped pictures of them and threatened to make posters.

...

The recent allegations could encourage attacks on the homeless, Stoops said.

"Encourage attacks." Yeah, and a drug "pusher" really "pushes" drugs on an unwelcoming clientele too, eh?

Guys: Some products just sell themselves.

Thanks to Rittenhouse.

posted by Ace at 06:43 PM

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