Seattle 'superhero' avoids charges in crime-fighting fracas

Originally posted:
By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
Nov 25, 2011
Phoenix Jones, a self-proclaimed superhero who roams Seattle streets to fight crime will not be charged for pepper-spraying a group he said he thought was fighting, The Seattle Timesreports.
Jones, who calls himself the leader of the Rain City Superhero Movement, faced a possible misdemeanor assault charge after the people he sprayed said they were dancing, not fighting.
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said one factor in the decision not to prosecute is a state law allowing a person to use force if they reasonably believe another person is about to be injured, The Times reports.
In addition, two of the alleged victims fled the scene and have not been located and interviewed, Holmes said.
As for the mission of the 23-year-old masked crusader, whose real name is Benjamin Fodor, Holmes said he “is no hero, just a deeply misguided individual.”
Jones, whose comments appear on his Facebook page Phoenix Jones & the Rain City Superhero Movement, says, ?”I symbolize that the average person doesn’t have to walk around and see bad things and do nothing.”
Jones could still face civil charges, the newspaper notes.