Knife clip injures man at Homecoming concert

MuteMath debuted Feb. 18 at the Homecoming concert with bouts of crowd surfing and pocketknives.

Sgt. Greg Williams and officer Gary Purvis responded to an emergency situation in the Centennial Center at 10:20 p.m. where a student had a pocketknife clip lodged in his head. The victim, Brent Bouthillera, a Starrs Mill High School senior, was at the concert with his friends.

According to Williams, there was never any bleeding coming from the wound.

“He was walking around by the main bathrooms, holding his head, but the wound was not serious and we did not hear any complaints from the victim,” Williams said.

Mike Pritchard, a student at Recording Connection in Atlanta, was standing next to his friend when he saw the incoming crowd surfer.

“We were in the pit and all of the sudden some guy got lifted up behind us and I guess there were not enough people to support him and he came crashing into him,” Pritchard said.

The way a crowd-surfer falls can determine whether it will be a clean surf, end in disaster or possibly a freak accident.

The victim said that he just happened to be in the right position when the crowd-surfer came down on him.

“My friend and I were just standing towards the back of the pit and next thing I know some guy is falling on me,” Bouthiller said. “After I got my balance back I realized there was a pocketknife clip stuck in my head.”

Williams and Purvis reported the injury as not serious, but sent the victim to Oconee Regional Medical to have the clip removed properly so no further injury would occur.

“I didn’t even have to have stitches, they just pulled it out and sent me on my way with some medication to ease the aching,” Bouthiller said.

Georgia law states that blades less than three inches when opened and in the locked position are legal to carry. A pocketknife at the concert or in a public venue is legal as long as the blade falls under the appropriate length.

The incident that occurred did not involve the pocketknife blade, but the clip that hooks to an individual’s pants or belt. The officers who responded reported the wound as “not serious.”

Posted by Elise Colcord on Feb 26 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry