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Garfield hugger gets 90-day suspended sentence
Some belated news out of Indiana regarding the man who beheaded a Garfield statue with a “crazed hug (see back stories here, here and here.)” Joseph Savarino, age 23, was sentenced 90-day suspended sentence and ordered to perform 40 hours of community service and pay $200 in restitution for his role in the decapitation of a city Garfield the statue. Officials also mention that the statue itself had a construction flaw and that certain stress points were not reinforced. This information was not enough to get Savarino off the hook.
Editorial: In light of this new information, I think Savarino is a victim of injustice. Cartoon statues should be able to take the stress of crazed huggers and Savarino should be praised for finding the flaw before Garfield’s head could fall off and crush a little wheelchair bound 4-year old boy or girl. Okay, so maybe he did try to cover up his crime by taking the head and throwing it away near a reservoir (next time, take a cue from any mob movie and put the head INTO the reservoir tied to a rock or something), but I’m sure that small act when, compared to what MIGHT have happened had he not discovered the structural mal-integrity, is inconsequential. People should have the right to hug their favorite cartoon character without the fear of its heading popping off. I suggest an independent counsel look into the Judge’s background and find out if he is a secret Garfield fan and may have had a personal conflict of interest.
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Community Comments
April/2/2007 @ 10:23 am
Thank you for keeping us all up-to-date on this. I feel like, if this story was fictional, and put into comic strip form, it could win some awards. What would Garfield, in his comic strip, say if he came across a beheaded statue of himself?
Comedy!
April/2/2007 @ 11:44 am
“I hate Monday.”
April/4/2007 @ 9:59 am
A harsh sentence? Perhaps not, if you consider the man’s previous convictions:
May 14, 1998: Caught mooning statue of Beetle Bailey.
October 2, 1996: Police called when perp confessed to “mentally undressing” a statue of Blondie located in town square.
February 27, 1990: Juvenile arrested in backyard for copyright infringement. Suspect caught creating “disturbing” snowmen after having allegedly read a collection of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips.
One-time incident, or lifelong trend into comic-related violence? You decide.
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