WHAT A HEEL: Restauranteur (Allegedly) Has Food Critic Roughed Up
Albany barkeep Timothy Rankins was arrested for (allegedly) arranging to have Gerald Spiegel and his younger brother Jason to beat up a Times Union (Albany, NY) food critic in October 2008, the paper reports:
Rankins … was arraigned in Albany County Court on a count of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum of one year in jail. The indictment accuses Rankins, 41, of soliciting the help of another person to beat up Steve Barnes, a Times Union food writer, and Barnes's friend as they left Creo Restaurant in Guilderland.
The Associated Press reports that “Barnes, who occasionally wrote about Rankins' restaurants, had posted on the newspaper's website that he would be dining there that night.” The next day he blogged about the assault on him and his friend Joshua Carr:
My face is swollen and bloody. One of my knees, one elbow, one wrist and the back of my head are ailing. Josh hurts in a variety of places.
Assault charges against Gerald Spiegel, a professional fighter, were thrown out on a technicality. Jason Spiegel was arrested on one count of misdemeanor assault and is out on bail.
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