Bad Day For a Staten Island Peacock

A deranged Staten Island man spotted a peacock in the parking lot of a Tottenville Burger King Thursday morning, and mistook the majestic animal for a vampire. According to the Staten Island Advance, the man assaulted the bird in pretty much every possible way except driving a stake through its heart, as onlookers watched in horror.

Witnesses said a man in his late teens or early 20s grabbed the helpless bird by its neck, struck it repeatedly with a baseball bat and kicked it in a Burger King parking lot on Page Avenue.

He then jumped onto the hood of a car and threw the peacock to the ground before running off when he saw police.

A young woman who worked at the Burger King had just taken a break to get a closer look at the peacock, which is a rare sight, that was standing in the parking lot. She had been feeding the bird bread since 7:30 a.m. Shortly after she finished her break, she heard a man screaming "I'm killing a vampire," and then saw that man jumping on and kicking the peacock after tearing off his shirt.

The Advance also reported that the peacock's presence could be explained by the fact that a Prince Bay man named George Burke has been raising the birds for years, and had given a few to a Tottenville resident. When told of the attack on one of his peacock's, Burke responded "What's wrong with parents who let kids turn into [expletive] like that?"

Animal Care & Control officers evaluated the bird's condition at one of their facilities, and decided to euthanize the peacock. Its injuries were just too extensive and severe to be treated. Police are looking for a young man either in his teens or early 20s and urge anyone who can provide an account of the attack and description of the man to contact them.

(NYC - Bronx - Bronx Zoo: Blue Peacock, by wallyg at flickr)

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Dave Hogarty in Arts and Events, News on July 1, 2007 10:35 AM

Comments [rss]

guest

guess what? I'm right,

it's a white dude.

guest

he's white, only white satanists believe in vampires. and, it's in Tottenville, the population is nearly 95 percent white. if he was mexican, he wouldn't yell out, he caught a vampire, he would say el cuchelibre.

chew on that guest number 12.

Do you even know where Tottenville is?

guest

sad

guest

was he black, white, yellow? all they give is his age. how the hell can we look for him if all they say is "teens to twenties"? well, if he was white they would have printed that in bold letters. usually if he's black or other than white they don't say it. you see, they might lose their jobs. i hope they fry the fucker. hey commenter #8, chew on that ;)

guest

Wow ! So Now Gothamist is fading out all the "Guest" comments now huh ? Oh well, It won't change my mind about signing up ! Moving on, Dude must have been on some really good crack if he thought the peacock was a vampire ! Posted by; "Still Not Amused"

Dave Hogarty

I hope he was on drugs, because if that was just a young man trying to be funny or "jackass-tic", the story becomes much more disturbing.

Elderta

That guy must have been on some serious drugs when he attacked that peacock.

guest

hmmmmm, Tottenville? Vampire?

Not black, another SI burnout stoner greaser.

and the requisite baseball bat under the car seat.

Spirit of 76

Uh, what is this? "Guest" comments are now in a hard to read grey? Look, if I want to hide guest comments, there's the option right there at the beginning of the comments section. I can't make that decision if I can barely read them to begin with. Sheesh.

Back on topic, I think it's safe to say the real bloodsucker got away from the police.

guest

Kill that man.

guest

Those damn vampires, I hate it when they get loose.

guest

what if it was a vampire in peacock form...

guest

some people never fucking surprise me.....this asshole who did this is a future serial killer...what a waste!

guest

When they find him, I hope they beat him to death, slowly. I don't care if he's mentally disabled, deranged, or whatever. Humans are the lowest form of scum on this planet. I hope he suffers.