Tag PubliCola

Articles 2011

Phoenix Jones Loses Job, Barred From Working With Children

by Webmaster

Originally posted: http://publicola.com/2011/11/02/phoenix-jones-loses-job-barred-from-working-with-children/
By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

Seattle’s most famous masked crusader, Phoenix Jones, is now an unemployed superhero after he was let go from his job teaching life skills to autistic kids, and told by the state that he is no longer allowed to work with vulnerable children or adults following his arrest last month, PubliCola has learned.
“I had to leave work in the middle of the day,” Jones says. “It was embarrassing.”
Jones explained that he has worked with five developmentally disabled autistic children—who ranged in age from four to 18 years old—for the last five years at their homes and state care facilities, going shopping with them, teaching them to balance checkbooks, and going for walks.
Jones’ latest troubles come weeks after he was arrested by Seattle police for allegedly pepper spraying a group of men and women near Pioneer Square. Jones claims he was breaking up a fight, but police arrested him for assault.  Following a court appearance in the case, Jones revealed his secret identity as 23-year-old mixed martial arts fighter Ben Fodor.
Prosecutors have not filed charges for the incident, and a spokeswoman for the city attorney’s office says the case is still being investigated.
Last week, Jones received a letter from the state Department of Social and Health Services, informing him he is no longer allowed to work with kids. PubliCola was not able to determine exactly why DSHS disqualified Jones from working with kids, but it appears to be due to his pending assault case.
When contacted for a comment, Jones said he had been advised not to speak extensively about the circumstances of his apparent termination, but confirmed he was no longer able to work with autistic children.
“They all knew I was Phoenix Jones,” he says.
Jones says that because of his arrest, he’s on “a list” that prohibits him from working with children, because he has “a history of interjecting myself into situations that are dangerous.”
Jones, naturally, disputes that characterization. “I would say I have a history of fighting crime,” he says. “The whole point of what I do is to keep people safe.”
Jones isn’t sure how he’ll pay the bills now. He says he’s received offers for fight bouts from the Strikeforce mixed martial arts organization, and plans to start fighting crime in the daytime, in addition to his night patrols around Seattle. Other than that, he says, “I really don’t know.”
Articles 2011

OPA Investigated Leak of Phoenix Jones’ Info

by Webmaster

Originally posted: http://publicola.com/2011/10/25/opa-investigated-leak-of-phoenix-jones-info/
By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

The Seattle Police Department’s Office of Professional Accountability opened an internal investigation earlier this year into officers leaking info about Seattle’s (in)famous masked crusader, Phoenix Jones, according to internal police records.
An OPA case log says Jones—who dramatically revealed his secret identity as Ben Fodor in front of reporters after he was arrested earlier this month—contacted the department in March, filing an online complaint ”alleging there is someone in our administration who is leaking information to the media.”
An OPA investigator emailed Fodor, informing him “the matter is already under investigation.”
OPA case reports released since Fodor filed his complaint in March don’t appear to indicate the result of the department’s internal investigation, so PubliCola contacted Fodor to ask about the complaint.
“I was upset that my name was printed on a piece of paper,” Fodor says, referring to an informational bulletin distributed within the department, warning officers about Fodor’s crew of caped crusaders. Several reporters obtained the bulletin, and used the information to track down Fodor.
“[The department] told me the information was being passed around, and it was sewed up,” Fodor says.
A department spokesman did not have information on the status of OPA’s investigation into Fodor’s complaint.
Articles 2011

Phoenix Jones Says He’s Training a Replacement Hero, Nightstick.

by Webmaster

Originally posted: http://publicola.com/2011/10/14/phoenix-jones-says-hes-training-a-replacement-hero-nightstick/
By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

After dramatically revealing his secret identity to a crowd of reporters following his court hearing at the county jail Thursday morning, Phoenix Jones—legal name: Ben Fodor—tells PubliCola he plans to continue patrolling Seattle’s streets, but also says he’s “training a replacement.”
Fodor says his replacement, known as Nightstick, is the strong silent type.
Fodor says Nightstick—a friend of Fodor’s from the mixed martial arts fighting world—is more interested in going out and thwomping bad guys than calling 911 and waiting for police. Fodor says Nightstick is already meting out street justice in Seattle, breaking up “six or seven crimes,” and recently left a drug dealer handcuffed to a light pole.
Fodor says ultimately he’s hoping Nightstick becomes “a guy that can function the way [he] did before [he] was outed before the Seattle Police Department.” (Though Fodor, aka Phoenix Jones, says he won’t slowing down his own crime fighting.)
Fodor would not provide any details about Nightstick’s true identity, but said he his a “mixed martial artist” who wears “head-to-toe covered gear” and “doesn’t do interviews.”
Articles 2011

Seattle police arrest 'superhero' Phoenix Jones in assault investigation

by Webmaster

Originally posted: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Seattle-police-arrest-superhero-Phoenix-Jones-2210657.php
By CASEY McNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
The man known as Phoenix Jones Guardian of Seattle, the self-proclaimed Seattle “superhero” who has received international media attention, was arrested and booked into King County Jail early Sunday morning for investigation of assault.
Shortly after 2:30 a.m., police were called to First Avenue and Columbia Street after an alleged assault with pepper spray. A group of men and women had left a club, were walking to their car and were “dancing and having a good time,” Seattle Police Det. Jeff Kappel said in a statement.
“An unknown adult male suspect came up from behind and pepper sprayed the group,” Kappel’s statement said. “Two men in the group chased after the suspect. Responding officers arrived on scene and separated the involved parties.”
The 23-year-old man arrested is the man previously identified by police as Phoenix Jones Guardian of Seattle. He was booked into jail shortly after 5 a.m. and released on bond about 12:45 p.m. Sunday, jail records show.
Jones is not the man’s real name. Seattlepi.com does not normally identify suspects in criminal cases until they’ve been formally charged by a prosecuting attorney’s office.
He’s expected to have a Thursday morning arraignment, where a plea would be entered. Police say the case involves four victims.
Other than the Sunday incident, the man known as Phoenix Jones doesn’t have a criminal history in Seattle Municipal Court. However, court records show he previously was arrested outside Seattle after being stopped for driving with a suspended license.
A spokesman for Phoenix Jones, Peter Tangen, told Publicola that a video of the incident tells a different story and that the self-proclaimed superhero was trying to break up a fight. He did not provide Publicola with a copy of the video.
“It’ll be interesting what [police] have to say when the video comes out,” Tangen told the site. “I’m very sure it’s going to show a different story than what police are saying.”
Police spokespersons on Sunday didn’t comment specifically on Jones’ behavior, other than Kappel’s statement which didn’t name him, though previously they’ve said self-proclaimed superheroes interjecting themselves into disputes could create problems.
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