Sexually explicit tattoo angered Pinkberry founder, officials say

[Newsjock]

Source: Los Angeles Times

A founder of the Pinkberry yogurt chain allegedly beat up a homeless man with a tire iron because he found the transient's sexually explicit tattoo offensive, according to L.A. prosecutors.

The incident took place in June 2011 on an off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway at Vermont Avenue, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Young Lee was stopped at a light when he was approached by a man seeking money, police said.

Words were exchanged, and Lee and another man in the car chased the homeless man and "beat him down" with the tire iron, police Capt. Paul Vernon said.

... Lee, 47, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday night by the LAX Fugitive Task Force, which includes LAPD officers and FBI agents. He was booked at the LAPD's Pacific Division station, according to online Sheriff's Department booking records.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/pinkberry-founder-attack-tattoo.html

[HopeHoops]

21. Oh my.

[Papagoose]

24. Awesome...a rape joke

[thelordofhell]

27. Not a joke

But a brutal reality in today's woefully overcrowded, underfunded, and understaffed prison society

[LanternWaste]

34. A brutal reality based on a cable television series.

A brutal reality based on a cable television series. Insightful...

I imagine brutal realities are found by business travelers the world round after watching Airplane, also.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. Holy shit!

Young Lee is out of his ever lovin' mind.

[KansDem]

3. Let me see if I understand this

A homeless man comes up to you seeking money at a traffic light on an off-ramp. You argue with him and then get out of your car to chase him down, leaving you car at the stop light on the off-ramp, so you can beat him with a tire iron?

All because of a tattoo you didn't like?

Whatever happened to "No, not today" and then rolling up your window?

[Blue_Tires]

4. Cop out...there's no defense

the story could at least explain the ink...unless it said in plain text "FUCK ALL YOU ASIAN BLANKETY-BLANKS AND GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM" or something really over-the-top (and even then it's still no excuse)

There's more to this story...Lee had a bad drug trip, roid rage, or he's just a garden variety sociopath -- None of these will be good for business when it becomes public

[izquierdista]

7. ....becomes public?

I don't think there is reverse of any speed that will get all the whoop-ass back into the can.

[frylock]

5. dude is going to see a whole lot of "sexually explicit tattoos" in prison

[MADem]

6. The bastard had help--an accomplice, to beat up this homeless guy

Why would a sexually explicit tattoo bother anyone? Avert your eyes! Drive away!

The guy was a "former kick boxer" apparently, and he felt "disrespected by the tattoo" which they didn't describe.

But wait....there's MORE to this story!!

Shortly after 3 p.m. on June 15, 2011, prosecutors said Lee and a second unidentified suspect confronted the victim because Lee thought the victim had disrespected him by exposing a sexually explicit tattoo.

The two parked their car on Vermont Avenue near the Hollywood Freeway offramp then allegedly beat the victim with a tire iron, striking him on his head and arm, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The victim sustained a broken left forearm and several cuts to his head, police said.


Lee was later identified as a suspect after witnesses gave police his vehicle’s license number.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Pinkberry-Co-Founder-to-Be-Arraigned-on-Assault-Charges-137509068.html

He looks like he's been hit with the "Seinfeld Curse" -- Larry David did an episode about Pinkberry yoghurt a while back.

[knitter4democracy]

10. So, he was out on a date with another guy and was offended by a tattoo?

I'm thinking there's something to that--was the tattoo making fun of gays or something like that?

[MADem]

19. Maybe. I am wondering if it is one of those ubiquitous "character" tattoos we see so often.

You know, when someone has writing scrawled all over his/her arm, back, butt, where ever, they aren't Asian, they can't speak Chinese or Japanese, but they insist that their tattoo says "Strong Warrior" or "Ninja Champion" or some such crap, but it could just as easily be some nonsense yanked off a fortune cookie.

NYT did an article about this a few years back (the whole thing is a good read), discussing tattoos that ended up saying "power piglet" or "demon bird moth balls": http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/fashion/sundaystyles/02tattoos.html?pagewanted=all

Tattoo artists — few of whom know Chinese — copy the characters from templates that are often of uncertain provenance and are easily corrupted if a word is unwittingly substituted, or if someone decides to take liberties by altering a few strokes. When two characters are combined to form what is in English a catchy phrase, context can be lost and the result can be hilarious — or worse.

"Everybody here that does tattoos, we understand that if you combine the characters together, they have a different meaning," said Ricky Sturdivant, a tattoo artist in Normal, Ill. "We try to express that to the customers, but sometimes they want us to do it anyway."

Errors are common enough to be good business for tattoo removal specialists, and to fuel a blog, www.hanzismatter.com, which posts photographs of botched tattoos accompanied by sardonic commentary from Tian Tang, a Chinese-born engineering student.

The blog takes the name Hanzi Smatter from the Chinese term for the ideograms that are composed of as many as 30 strokes and take years of practice to write fluently. Hanzi are also used extensively in Japan, where they are referred to as kanji, and to a lesser degree in South Korea.

[The Doctor.]

23. Thanks for the smile.

I've always asked people about their 'Asian Character' tattoos. They tell me the meaning, and on a few occasions I've asked, "Are you sure?"

Thanks for the info too.

[SemperEadem]

8. damn, if a sexually explicit tattoo on some random dude's arm bothers you that much

then stay your stupid butt at home and don't go out.

So if some woman's hairstyle bothered him, would he also rape her?

Damn, what are they eating down in Koreatown?

[originalpckelly]

9. Some things jump the shark, Pinkberry has jumped the homeless man.

[marasinghe]

11. scum

another dumfuck rich delusional fascist asshole thinking he's master of the frikkin universe.

[Justice wanted]

12. I've never heard of Pinkberry before. How long has this place been in business

I would also love to know what the tattoo in question was. What the hell kind of society have we become.

[K8-EEE]

13. Maybe they are just in L.A.? There were a lot more of them a few years ago but

Menchie's is the new up and comer with the Fro-Yo. My niece from Reno was out here and she was like, HOW MANY FROZEN YOGURT PLACES DO YOU HAVE ANYWAY?? Don't even know. A zillion!

[obamanut2012]

29. They are all over

[Codeine]

16. They started in 2005

Per Wikipedia

There are currently over 100 stores, mostly located in Southern California, 14 in New York City, New York, two in New Orleans, Louisiana, two in Denver, Colorado, one in Colorado Springs, Colorado, one in Atlanta, Georgia, one in Nashville, Tennessee, two in Charlotte, North Carolina, five in Massachusetts, four in Texas, two in Connecticut, one in Fairfax, Virginia, three in Orlando, Florida, two in Tampa, Florida, one in Miami, Florida, two in Hawaii and one each in Chicago, IL, Cranston, RI, Washington, D.C., Ann Arbor, MI and one located on the Bowling Green State University campus. International locations include one in Mexico City, ten in the Middle East, four in Lima, Peru, two in Moscow, Russia, one in Manila, Philippines, one in West Vancouver, Canada, one in Burnaby, Canada [2] and two in London, United Kingdom, which opened on August 3, 2011.

[MADem]

20. Larry David did a whole show about it--it was apparently a big fad

in Lala land when he did the episode.

[BeliQueen]

22. There are a few in DC

I went with a friend a few weeks ago. The yogurt was tart and slightly bitter, the toppings tasted off, and the cost was outrageous--$6.15 for a small cup and two toppings.

Now I have another reason not to go back.

[Ecumenist]

14. What the hell?!! What does someone's tattoo have to do with you? That's cazy as hell...

[K8-EEE]

15. Vermont & 101 frwy, just North of L.A.'s Koreatown

Interesting neighborhood, K-town. Just outside of it there, that is kind of the land of culture clashes. I worked for a Korean company a couple of years ago and my bosses were incredibly nice and friendly and super generous in many ways (and would never have beat anybody up!) but they really had a lot of disdain for homeless people & pan handlers. They just didn't get why they were allowed to "harass" people.

[octothorpe]

17. Uhhhh. WTF is wrong with that guy?

[Skittles]

18. I hope that homeless man gets himself a good lawyer

[The Doctor.]

25. Followed directly with a handsome settlement,

And a modest home.

Sounds fair to me.

[Cleita]

30. Don't worry. In LA the ambulance chasers are lined up

already. My DH and I were victims of a fire in our place of business when we lived there. Right after the fire department and police, the litigation lawyers showed up next and out of nowhere at 6 in the morning, all pushing each other out of the way to give us their business cards. (Fire started at 3 AM). Evidently they listen to police scanners.

[The Doctor.]

26. So was this tattoo somehow 'lactose intolerant'?

[obamanut2012]

28. Well, they'll never get a penny of my money again

And, they have gotten a decent amount of it.

[JCMach1]

32. Same here... we also have them in the UAE

[McCamy Taylor]

31. Will be interested in the accused's version of events.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

33. What's the point of having a tire iron handy

if you're not going to use it on homeless people? Surely everybody keeps a tire iron under the driver's seat, right?

My tire iron is in the trunk, what a useless place to store it. Unless you plan to use it to, say, change a tire. Hmmm.

[DiverDave]

35. RoidRage?

it sure seems to fit...
Bizarro any way you look at it.

Just fly off the handle like that...

And that poor guy, I hope he gets every cent he can.