OCONOMOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) -- A man says he broke into an apartment
with a cavalry sword because he thought he heard a woman being
raped, but the sound actually was from a pornographic movie his
upstairs neighbor was watching.
"Now I feel stupid," said James Van Iveren, who has been charged in
the case. "This really is nothing, nothing but a mistake."
According to a criminal complaint, the neighbor told police that
Van Iveren pounded on the door and kicked it open without warning
February 12, damaging the frame and lock.
"Where is she?" Van Iveren demanded, thrusting the sword at the
neighbor, the complaint said. "Where is she?"
The neighbor told police Van Iveren became increasingly aggressive
as he repeated the question, insisting that he had heard a woman
being raped. The complaint said that, with the sword pointed at
him, the neighbor led Van Iveren throughout the apartment, opening
closet doors to prove he was alone.
The neighbor later played for police the part of the DVD he
believed Van Iveren heard downstairs.
Van Iveren, 39, of Oconomowoc, was charged with criminal trespass,
criminal damage and disorderly conduct, all while using a dangerous
weapon, and is scheduled to appear in court March 5. Together, the
misdemeanor counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 months in
jail.
Van Iveren said Tuesday that he heard a woman "screaming for help,"
grabbed the sword, bounded up the stairs, kicked in the apartment
door and confronted the man who lived there.
"I intended to hold it behind my back and knock. But I froze and
instead, what happened happened," he told the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel.
Contesting his neighbor's account, Van Iveren said he didn't look
anywhere in the apartment except the front room, and that he never
threatened the neighbor with the sword.
"I had the sword extended, but that was all," he said.
Van Iveren, who lives with his mother in the downstairs apartment,
said he did not call police when he heard the noises because he
does not have a telephone. He said he barely knew the upstairs
tenant.
Police seized Van Iveren's sword, which he said was a family
heirloom.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/22/porn.sword.ap/index.html
kekekekekekeke ...... Heard this on the car radio this morning ....
