It's all a bit inexplicable in what may prove the weirdest assault charges yet: A Maryland driver's accused of attacking another man with a downed power line--still throwing sparks--after Hurricane Irene, in a road rage scenario. The accused tool of attempted destruction is a bizarre one. So is the defense.
Apparently it was a tool made handy by Mother Nature: A Maryland driver says he was threatened for attack by electricity. Cops say another driver used a live power line that had been knocked out of service by Hurricane Irene. 32-year-old Richard Bialczak allegedly tailed another driver at close range and essentially rode his bumper turn by turn, before getting out of his car and continuing the road rage on foot. 28-year-old Derek Edwards. Edwards was on his way home from work when he saw Bialczak's car close behind his, and tried to get away from the driver. But he couldn't escape the turns when his car was forced to the site of a downed power line that was still pumping electricity and dangerously high voltage.
Hurricane Irene had blown over a power line that way literally lying on a Maryland road. The driver who was being followed got out of his car to warn the other driver about the downed line -- but got back into his car after he says the drunken driver from College Park was physically threatening him. It was at that point police say Richard Bialczak got back into his car and started ramming Derek Edwards' car over and over -- to push the vehicle and its driver closer, or into, the downed power line still charged with electricity. The road rage then continued on foot, when the man -- who cops insist had had a few too many -- began physically hitting and kicking the other man's car. In a finale, the 32-year-old driver is accused of then grabbing the live power line that was still throwing off sparks -- and trying to hurl it at the other driver's car.
The guy's defense is equally as mystifying as the bizarre scenario itself: His attorney claims the slew of legal charges aren't consistent with his client's "standing in the community."