The man in the black and yellow bodysuit, complete with a mask and fake abs, is Phoenix Jones, a self-proclaimed Seattle superhero who has sworn to no one in particular to uphold justice in Starbucks’s home city. But things went awry for the vigilante over the weekend when he was the one who ended up in jail, charged with assault for pepper-spraying people he thought were villains. “There was a person on the ground who was getting stomped,” Jones told the Daily News. “It was one guy versus what looked like eight people. I honestly thought the guy’s life was in danger,” he said. The group says they were just “dancing and having a good time” when Jones and his sidekick came barreling in. In one sense, Jones is contributing to the common good: The ordeal is all on tape.
“There was a guy laying on the ground with people kicking him,” contends the videographer. “This was no dance party.” There is indeed some mayhem, but it’s hard to make out, and probably only made worse by Jones, who gets attacked by a woman who eventually falls on her face.
And yet, after two years of thankless crime-fighting, Jones is not deterred: “I’ve been shot once and I don’t really want it to happen again. I’ve been stabbed twice, hit with a baseball bat and had my nose broken,” he said. “But in all those incidents I helped someone who was in danger. If someone is going to take that punishment it should be the guy in body armor.” Or maybe the guy trained, and getting paid.
Phoenix Jones, costumed ‘super hero,’ arrested by Seattle police after altercation with unruly group [NYDN]
