July 12, 2018

Armless, homeless... not defenseless.

"An armless homeless man who is known on South Beach as an artist who paints with his feet was arrested Tuesday for stabbing a man with a pair of scissors... Police said Crenshaw spontaneously told an officer that he was defending himself. He further claimed that the victim had punched him in the head as he was lying down. He said he then pulled out a pair of scissors with his feet and stabbed the victim before putting the scissors in his waistband and leaving the area...."

Local 10 ABC News reports.

ADDED: Here's a longer report, in the Miami Herald, with photographs of the man. We're told he weighs 90 pounds (very slight, even considering the lack of weight due to armlessness). The victim says he was just asking Crenshaw for directions. That article links to a 2011 profile in the Miami New Times:
Though he doesn't talk much about the condition that has earned him the nickname "Birdman" -- the short, wing-like limbs that protrude from his shoulders in place of arms -- he speaks freely about other maladies, imagined or not. "I was born with sharp teeth. When I was five years old, the government drilled them in half," he says. Later he relates how he was forced to move into a hotel after he was "stabbed to death twice" in his former apartment some years back. "But a big bolt of lightning woke me up," he explains. "I think the knife might still be in my back." His eyes light up curiously at the prospect. He proceeds to stand and lift up the back of his shirt all the way to the nape of his neck so that I might inspect him for knives or stab wounds. His skin is unmarred....

He lifts an eyebrow before imparting, "I think I'm the one Nostradamus predicted nobody could kill."... Crenshaw talks a lot about sex and the many women he's impregnated, including Gloria Estefan who he says birthed about 200 of his children... "Sometimes I wish I were dead," he begins. "I'm not trying to kill myself or anything. But then I wouldn't have to suffer." 

33 comments:

Qwinn said...

Stabbing someone with scissors you're holding with your feet is impressive.

Using your feet to tuck it in your waistband afterwards... I cant even picture how one would do that. And I've got pretty flexible knees (can easily do lotus without using hands)

rhhardin said...

Forehanded is forearmed.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Sounds like self defense. Is that legal in CA?

Darrell said...

Is that legal in CA?

Or Florida.

traditionalguy said...

Hmmm. Human again overcomes handicap. But his feet have no opposite thumb. I wonder if he can shoot a Glock with his feet. They could design one I suppose. But the market is small.

CJinPA said...

His lawyer will argue he was unarmed.

tcrosse said...

Quite a feat.

traditionalguy said...

@ CJinPA... LOL . But how dare you make me think Handicaps are funny. Yes, no Lawyer worth his salt would not make that argument in the Opening Statement, and bite his tongue not to giggle.

Ralph L said...

I hope he gets a slap on the wrist.

rhhardin said...

You're never defenseless if you have eyebrows.

rhhardin said...

Asking for directions sounds fishy. The guy has no arms.

tcrosse said...

He's not Handicapped. He's Differently Abled.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Oh dear lord, that poor man.

Seriously loony, but well-read enough to know of the quatrains of Nostradamus.

How do people come to believe nutty conspiracy theories?

Darrell said...

With 200 of Gloria Estefan's children to feed, they better let him go soon.

Oso Negro said...

I had a great-cousin Harold Wilkie who was born with no arms. He was raised to be self-sufficient by his mother and lived quite a life. The photo of George H.W. Bush signing the Americans with Disabilities Act shows Cousin Harold looking on over the President’s right shoulder. He did everything with his feet including drive a car. Yes, he could have stabbed someone with a pair of scissors.

Bob Boyd said...

You can't stab anybody who's not a member of your immediate family in Florida.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Why, Althouse?

Fernandinande said...

A Chicagoan touristing in Florida? I guess it could happen.

"Court records show [armless homeless man who is known on South Beach as an artist who paints with his feet] criminal history dates to 2006 and includes charges for disorderly conduct, resisting officers and trespassing. He has also faced four previous battery charges, including a conviction in 2014 for felony battery of an officer, which led to a sentence of 180 days in jail. Court filings noted that Crenshaw's fingerprints couldn't be collected because he has no arms."

Bob Boyd said...

"He said he then pulled out a pair of scissors with his feet and stabbed the victim before putting the scissors in his waistband"

Maybe he put them in victim's waistband.

In some cultures, putting scissors in someone's waistband is considered the worst kind of insult.

Curious George said...

He needs a lawyer. Maybe Chuck can lend him a hand.

Unknown said...

24 volt motor controller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tSwnoKPOZY

Unknown said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tSwnoKPOZY

CJinPA said...

@traditionalguy I usually don't go there. But something tells me this man doesn't want pity.

Etienne said...

When I made my first trip to Reykjavik, I saw these kids sweeping the sidewalks. I thought it was interesting, in that they didn't seem to mind the chore. I would even say they were happy.

One woman in our group, who had been there many times before, said that 16 year old kids who didn't have a job, were given jobs by the city and paid a fair wage. The idea being it was all good, while idle minds and hands were all bad.

These thoughts come to me a lot lately, as I see how vagrancy has become an art form, and battle cry.

bagoh20 said...

If we could just appreciate how lucky we are every single day. We should walk around elated simply to not have the problems that some people do.

I have all my limbs.
I'm an American.
I have a home.
I have work.
I have people that love me.

How could I ever be unhappy?

Big Mike said...

Talk about a loser! Could not successfully mug an armless man sound asleep on the sidewalk. Use the guy for a crash test dummy — it’s the only thing he qualifies for.

tcrosse said...

Imagine this guy grabbing Gloria Estefan with his feet. When you're a big star they let you.

Gojuplyr831@gmail.com said...

This guy sounds crazy enough he could be on the DNC.

D 2 said...

Life surpasses art. You could not sell that story to Broadway or Hollywood. Naaaaaah they'd say. Until you show the news clipping.

Make the armless hero/anti-hero a migrant, always on the run from brutal authorities from Houston to Miami. Never Boston. Tone down the creep Gloria Estevan stalker thing, or turn it into a side story of how drug addiction stimulates ridiculous fantasy. Have some carefree young girl come round to sit for the armless artist and share wise Nostradamus tidbits. Who doesn't love Goldie Hawn or Kate Hudson or whoever is the next version? I presume the baddie he stabs in act 3 morphs into a white supremacist tariff lover who doesn't like the underground entrepreneurialism of street artists in south Beach.

Don't really know where the story ends. Hmm, someone call Kubrick.

wholelottasplainin said...

rhhardin said...
Forehanded is forearmed.

**********************

and forearmed is half an octopus.

stephen cooper said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Zach said...

Later he relates how he was forced to move into a hotel after he was "stabbed to death twice" in his former apartment some years back.

If that doesn't break the record, I'll bet it's at least a tie.

Bad Lieutenant said...

200 kids with one woman? What is he, a spider?