Tuesday, March 16, 2010

a tale of two stories

i always find it interesting how different news sources can report the same story entirely differently depending on the readers they are catering to... and do i ever have a prime example today!

let's start with the story from the online national post:

Three men have been charged with assault after allegedly beating a man for taking too long to order at a Tim Hortons drive-though in Ajax on Saturday morning, according to police.

Police were called shortly after 8:00 a.m. to the outlet on Salem Road South, and arrested the three men on scene.

A 36-year-old man was ordering from his car with his wife and two children when three men behind them in a pickup truck started honking and yelling for him to hurry up. When the man got out to try to calm them down they got out of their truck and allegedly assaulted him, according to a police press release.

“We’ve had a few crimes in line-ups, but I can’t remember one like this in recent memory,” said Durham Regional Police Service spokesman Dave Selby. “It’s a highly unusual event.”

“It looked like a three-on-one assault,” said Mr. Selby. The man received bumps and bruises, but was not seriously injured.

The three accused have been released on a promise to appear in court.
all in all, a seriously disturbing incident seriously and concisely reported.
and now let's move on to the story published by canoe.ca:

An Ajax man allegedly got rolled by three angry Tim Hortons customers.

Durham Regional Police claim three men now in double-double trouble were in the drive-thru lineup behind the victim on Saturday when he took too long to order.

The trio began honking and screaming at the man outside the Salem Rd. S. coffee shop.

When the 36-year-old man got out of his car – carrying his wife and two kids – to talk to the three men to try to calm them down, they got out of the truck and assaulted him, police said.

Officers arrived around 8 a.m. and arrested the three men on the parking lot.

Police spokesman Dave Selby said the incident report didn't indicate how long the man had taken to order, what he was trying to purchase [because it if was a MAPLE doughnut, THAT would have been the end of him!] or whether he ever got his Tims. [yeah, because that's what's really important after getting a beating in front of your wife and kids... did you get your damned coffee?]

"He was taking a long time to get the order straightened out, then the hons started honking and the guys started yelling," Selby said. "It was a kicking, punching type fight."

Officers are reviewing surveillance video from the drive-thru.

The victim suffered bumps and bruises but was not seriously injured, police said.

Harvey Hale, 37, Randy Cayouette, 23, and Kevin Doucet, 25, all of Ajax, are charged with assault. They were released on a promise to appear in court.
so i'm going to leave it up to you to decide which story was written for which... umm, mensa level. have fun with that.

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