New Year’s Eve can be a great time for many. People gather to celebrate and spend time with others. For the Des Moines Police Depart in Iowa they got a very interesting phone call. A man chased around a store clerk and threw a banana at the clerk. The Des Moines Police Department arrested the man for simple assault for using the banana and other items to assault the clerk (link to news article https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rogelio-tapia-bananaassault_us_5c2cfd66e4b0407e908766b3).
The above link also has more interesting items that have been used in an assault which include: a spatula, prosthetic leg, and a cremation urn to name a few.
In NIBRS Simple and Aggravated Assaults are a Group A Offense (13A-C). Assaults are an unlawful attack by one person upon another. When classifying assaults we have to consider the following factors:
– 1. The type of weapon employed or the use of an object as a weapon.
– 2. The seriousness of the injury.
– 3. The intent and capability of the assailant to cause serious injury.
There can be no attempted assaults. What is the difference between an aggravated and simple assault then? Aggravated Assault is an unlawful attack by one person upon another wherein the offender uses a weapon OR displays it in a threatening manner OR the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness. Note: It is not necessary that injury result from an Aggravated Assault when a gun, knife, or other weapon is used which could cause serious personal injury. Simple Assault is an unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender has a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.