Seattle police officers arrested its very own crime-fighting, costume-wearing superhero this week. His supername is Phoenix Jones, but upon his arrest, his real identity leaked to the public. Lucky for us, someone had a camera nearby so we could pseudo-witness the incident leading to his arrest.
Police arrested Phoenix Jones, also known as Benjamin Fodor, last weekend after he pepper-sprayed four people outside a nightclub to break up a fight. When cops arrived on the scene, they confiscated Fodor’s costume, mask and two cans of pepper-spray for evidence.
Phoenix Jones is a member of the Rain City Superhero Movement, a citizen-organized group that fights evil and keeps Seattle’s citizens safe. Police warned the group before to first call the authorities if any incidents came up instead of involving themselves. However, they continue to ignore this request.
In “real” life Fodor practices mixed-martial arts to better beef up his alter-ego’s crime-fighting prowess.
Fodor told police he became involved in order to break up a fight, but Phoenix Jones updated his Facebook to tell his fans that he broke up an attempted hit and run or murder. It seems his police-safe story wasn’t quite comic book material.
His Facebook identifies himself as the the RCSM’s leader, listing under his interests: “Fighting crime as well as raising awareness that anyone can report crime. If everyone were to report crime, then there would be no crime.”
Police charged Fodor with four counts of aggravated assault with a weapon and released him after spending about seven hours in jail. [via The Smoking Gun]
What do you think of this real-life “superhero”?
guest
Wow, he’s having a tough time against that powerful super villain…you know…the girl hitting him with her purse. =P
guest
Did anyone watch second episode of Castle this season?? Couse it talks about this very same thing. I find this hilarious and sad at the same time.
guest
Total dependence on the police and government is a little silly; I believe in preparedness. I also believe in not getting involved in things that are none of your business.
But in a life or death situation… there is a quote that I really like. “When seconds count, police are only minutes away.” So, I applaud the effort to be aware of their surroundings and confident enough to note when things are wrong and do something about it. But being a vigilante is kind of the opposite of the purpose of a civilized society.