One of Ohio State's forgotten members of the Thad Five, David Lighty, finally plead guilty to 1st degree misdemeanor assault and incredible stupidity for shooting a jogger with a toy BB gun and rubber pellets a year ago.Lighty fired the shot that pelted another high-school alumnus, 55-year-old James Nugent, in the lower back as Nugent ran laps on VA-SJ's track on July 7, 2006. Nugent yelped. Perched in bleachers scores of feet away, Lighty, McLeod and Rushton cracked up.Yes, this case was finally decided this week. The wheels of justice don't exactly move quickly in Ohio. It was dumb more than anything else. Stupid and ridiculous. Not to mention downright embarrassing to get picked up by the police and being held for possession of toy guns. Clearly, David Lighty would never make it in Florida where the student athletes have bigger toys.
Nugent told [Judge] Callahan he felt a sting, then heard, "I hit him! I hit him!"
"They laughed - they just thought it was a joke," Nugent recalled.
Nugent called Cleveland police, who arrived two minutes later to capture the three youths and their arsenal of three colorful plastic guns and rubbery, spring-propelled ammo.
Nugent accepted the defendants' apologies as well as their punishment. Said Nugent afterward: "It was kind of a dumb thing to do. But 18-year-old boys do that."
Damn, Florida beats Ohio State, again.
