'Pony Boy' on Trial for Hit and Run
October 31 -- C. Thomas Howell, a k a "Pony Boy" from Francis Ford Coppola's misunderstood youth opus The Outsiders, is on trial for a hit and run incident from last year in which he allegedly went after a skateboarder with a hammer and threatened to kill him if he went to the police
Los Angeles prosecutors say the 34-year-old actor struck a 20-year-old skateboarder with his Ford pickup truck Dec. 9, then fled and returned with a hammer and threatened to hit him, according to the Los Angeles Times. The skateboarder, Shawn C. Burgess, received minor injuries, Deputy City Atty. Brian Michaels told the paper. Michaels claims that after the incident, which occurred in Reseda, Calif., Howell threatened Burgess by saying, "I'm going to kill you if you call the police."
Howell faces five misdemeanor counts, including hit and run, brandishing a weapon and — this seems kind of extreme — making a terrorist threat. If convicted, Howell faces more than four years in jail.
Lawyers spent Monday selecting jurors in Van Nuys, Calif., the Times reports, with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathryne Stoltz asking potential jurors if they recognized Howell, or if his celebrity would affect their judgment.
That's somewhat unlikely, given that Howell's heyday was in such mostly forgotten '80s flicks as Red Dawn; Tank; and Grandview, U.S.A.However, Howell feels that his celebrity status, however diminished, is to blame for his being on trail. "If I was a gardener, this would not be happening," the actor said outside the courtroom.Howell added that he had acted in self-defense and denies hitting Burgess with his truck.
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