Saturday, December 21, 2013

'Honk if I'm a scumbag': Woman battered by thug after refusing his sexual advances gets her own back by forcing him to hold humiliating sign at roadside in return for her not pressing charges

A woman who was battered for refusing a thug's sexual advances took justice into her own hands and forced him to stand by a roadside with a sign reading: 'I beat women. Honk if I'm a scumbag.'
Alisha Hessler, 20, from Tampa, Florida, persuaded Gabriel Urena to undergo the humiliating ordeal - during which he also wore a dunce's hat - in return for her dropping charges against him.
'I think it will teach him a lesson,' she told Fox 13. 'I think he'll think twice about doing it again.'
Punished with humiliation: Gabriel Urena sits at a busy Tampa, Florida intersection after beating up a girl when she refused his sexual advances
Punished with humiliation: Gabriel Urena sits at a busy Tampa, Florida intersection after beating up a girl when she refused his sexual advances

Bruised and battered: 20-year-old Alisha Hessler went out clubbing with Urena and friends last Saturday night. When he started groping her she hit him and he responded by beating her up so bad she got a concussion
Bruised and battered: 20-year-old Alisha Hessler went out clubbing with Urena and friends last Saturday night. When he started groping her she hit him and he responded by beating her up so bad she got a concussion
Bruised and battered: 20-year-old Alisha Hessler went out clubbing with Urena and friends last Saturday night. When he started groping her she hit him and he responded by beating her up so bad she got a concussion

Hessler had never met Gabriel Urena before last Saturday night, when he was invited to join a group of her friends for a night out clubbing.

By the end of the night, Hessler and Urena sat next to each other in the back seat of a car and he started groping her.
The obvious choice: Urena avoided legal ramifications by going alone with Hessler's punishment
The obvious choice: Urena avoided legal ramifications by going alone with Hessler's punishment

Heslser told him to stop, but he didn't listen so she hit him in defense.

'I did hit him first and then all of a sudden that's when he started beating me repeatedly, punching me until I had a broken nose and concussion,' Hessler told WFTS.

A picture taken after the beating shows blood running out of her nose, with red marks all over her face.

The following morning, Hessler filed a report with the Tampa police who recorded her side of the story and took her to the hospital for treatment.
'We responded to her home. She did have visible injuries. The officer initiated a report for battery, and rescue personnel transported her to a local hospital,' Tampa Police spokeswoman Janelle McGregor told NBC Miami.

But Hessler's legal case against Urena stopped when she read a remorseful message written on his Facebook page.

'Lastnight (sic) was a wake-up call. I seriously need change,' Urena wrote.
Hessler challenged that statement by crafting up an alternate punishment for Urena. If he sat outside at a busy intersection for eight hours holding up a sign that says 'I beat women' she wouldn't press charges.
Avoiding legal ramifications, Urena took her up on that offer.
In addition to holding up a sign that read 'I beat women. Honk if I'm a scumbag' Urena also wore a dunce cap.


Sorry: The morning after the incident, Hessler found this remorseful message written on Urena's Facebook page
Sorry: The morning after the incident, Hessler found this remorseful message written on Urena's Facebook page


Citizen justice: Urena sat at the Florida intersection for eight hours holding a sign which read 'I beat women. Honk if I'm a scumbag'. He also wore a dunce cap
Citizen justice: Urena sat at the Florida intersection for eight hours holding a sign which read 'I beat women. Honk if I'm a scumbag'. He also wore a dunce cap.
Citizen justice: Urena sat at the Florida intersection for eight hours holding a sign which read 'I beat women. Honk if I'm a scumbag'. He also wore a dunce cap. Hessler was nice and seems to have let him pass the time playing on his cell phone


Hessler thinks this punishment was more appropriate to Urena's crime, and says she didn't want him to go to jail for a year.
While Hessler thinks she got justice for the beating, women's advocates and local police don't agree.

Mindy Murphy, an advocate for battered women said the punishment trivializes a serious issue.

Tampa police say Hessler shouldn't have taken the law into her own hands. They have tried several times to get in contact with Hessler, but she has not returned any of the calls - per her agreement with Urena. 

dailymail.co.uk

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