N.C. Man Charged With 'Coughing' Assault
 

Can you believe this??? Be careful, next thing you know you wont be able to breath, let alone cough, in the presence of a cop. :sad:

MORRISVILLE, N.C. - Morrisville police have charged a man with assault on a government official after an officer said the man coughed into his face during a traffic stop.
Officer Chris Gill said in his report that Kent Kauffman looked into his eyes before "hacking" in his face three times, according to Morrisville spokeswoman Stacie Galloway. Kauffman said he did cough from the window of his minivan but did so toward Gill's waist.

"He says I coughed in his face," Kauffman said. "But that would only work if he had a 4-foot-long face."

Kauffman said he developed a cough after his dog died last week. He said Gill put him in handcuffs and threw him into the side of the patrol car.

Gill pulled Kauffman over Tuesday for not wearing a seat belt. He now faces a misdemeanor charge and, if convicted, could spend up to 60 days in jail

http://www.newsobserver.com/2197/story/718260.html

There has to be more to this story....

Good thing he didn't fart, too. That might be a felony.

Im trying to figure out the relevance of him developing a cough after his dog died

maybe the dog had kennel cough, and passed it on to his human before it died?

either that or he's going for sympathy...


http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/717727.html
Nasty cough, nasty run-in with the law
MORRISVILLE - When Morrisville police officer Chris Gill handed him a ticket, Kent Kauffman coughed. Next thing Kauffman knew, Gill was charging him with assault on a government official.

Gill contends Kauffman intentionally coughed on him three times. According to Gill's report, Kauffman looked into the officer's eyes before "hacking" in his face, Morrisville spokeswoman Stacie Galloway said Wednesday.

Kauffman acknowledges that he coughed two or three times from the window of his Dodge minivan Tuesday but said it was toward Gill's waist.

"He says I coughed in his face," Kauffman said. "But that would only work if he had a 4-foot-long face."

Kauffman said that Gill cuffed him and threw him into the side of the patrol car, and that he ended up on the ground.

"It knocked the wind out of me," he said. "He kept yelling at me to get up. I told him, 'I can't move, man, I'm sick.' "

Kauffman, an accountant for Accountemps in Chapel Hill, said he developed a cough after his dog, Blair, died of kidney failure last week. He said he was still stricken Tuesday but went to work because he needed the cash.

Kauffman was traveling on McCrimmon Parkway just after 8 a.m. when Gill pulled him over for not wearing a seat belt. Gill charged Kauffman with a Class misdemeanor. If convicted, he could spend up to 60 days in jail.

Webster's dictionary says that to cough means to expel air suddenly and noisily from the lungs through the glottis, either as the result of an involuntary muscular spasm in the throat or to clear the air passages. A Wake County judge will decide the intent behind Kauffman's cough.

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Coughing with intent? I'd so love to be in the courtroom when that's decided...