Fight Over Whether Pal Was Dead Turns Criminal

Some people cannot take a joke; others cannot make them
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 10, 2014 11:25 AM CST
Fight Over Whether Pal Was Dead Turns Criminal
Henry Hill Shiver Jr.   (Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office)

It started when one guy thought it would be funny to tell two friends that a mutual friend was dead, and as the Northwest Florida Daily News reports, it quickly went downhill from there, ending in criminal charges for one Henry Hill Shiver Jr. Seems Shiver took the "news" poorly, and began to yell at the messenger—who walked back his bogus claim—and then, according to the police report, Shiver said he and a friend variously "hit the victim with a bucket," "jumped on the victim," and "began striking him in the face" with fists.

The Daily News notes that 62-year-old Shiver's story underwent several incarnations, eventually settling on the ever-popular "self-defense." Cops responding said the victim's injuries were obscured by "the amount of blood on the victim," but that a bag of pot in Shiver's pocket was quite apparent. He stands charged with battery and marijuana possession in the Oct. 23 incident. He also made the FloriDUH blog. (More dumb criminals stories.)

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