Tag Archives: Marin

Man Attacks Paralyzed Housemate with Mac ‘N Cheese

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Police arrested a Corte Madera man twice in eight hours on Thursday for attacking a paralyzed housemate, once with a box of macaroni and cheese.

John Jeffrey O’Connor, 46, rented part of his home to a 49-year old man paralyzed from the waist down. The pair got into an argument at about 4 a.m. Thursday, and O’Connor allegedly punched his wheelchair-using roommate in the mouth, the Marin Independent Journal reported.

Police responded to a call and saw swelling around the paralyzed man’s mouth. They arrested O’Connor, who soon returned home on bail, when he phoned police and asked them to stand by while he evicted his tenant/roommate from the home.

The tenant planned to leave at 2 p.m., but that was not soon enough for O’Connor, who was arrested again when police responded to a call that he’d shoved a box of macaroni and cheese in the paralyzed man’s face. Seeing a “damaged box… that appeared to support the allegations,” O’Connor was arrested again — this time on a felony charge.

Bail is set at $25,000, and the alleged victim “moved out of the residence as planned at 2 p.m.,” the newspaper reported.

Lawyer Charged in Yogurt Theft; Police Say Evidence Was Smeared on Her Nose

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A suspended California lawyer who once appeared on Larry King Live has been accused of wandering into a hotel and stealing yogurt from a locked refrigerator.

The lawyer, Patience Nooney Van Zandt of Mill Valley, was charged with burglary, possession of stolen property and vandalism, the Marin Independent Journal reports. Van Zandt once represented John Mark Karr, who claimed he was present at the death of JonBenet Ramsey. The case earned Van Zandt an appearance on Larry King.

The story says the yogurt alleged to have been stolen “included six Yoplaits of unknown variety.” Mill Valley police Capt. Jim Wickham told the publication that Van Zandt “did have evidence of yogurt on her nose.”

California bar records indicate that Van Zandt is not eligible to practice law because of an interim suspension.

Van Zandt’s former law partner, Jamie Harmon, said Van Zandt has been struggling with drug and alcohol addictions since abdominal surgery limited her food consumption. Van Zandt was “probably really hungry and potentially disoriented,” Harmon told the Marin Independent Journal. She said Van Zandt has had “a terribly, terribly difficult time” and “is trying so hard to get straightened up.”