Capturing 'Parking Rage': The Story Behind The Story
So, how was your Friday?
Mine was, to say the least, interesting.
Odds are you've now seen the video of Dr. William Moody and his PDA (public display of anger) from Friday afternoon. Tens of thousands have viewed the incident on wcbstv.com, or on one of the countless blogs that linked to the video.
Many people have followed up on bulletin boards and in chat rooms, speculating about what went down in the moments before photographer Chris Calarco turned on his camera and hit the record button. In true Internet fashion (why does online anonymity breed such ugliness?) a few speculators have questioned everything from our motivation to our ethics to our ancestry.
In the interest of countering speculation with information, here's the story behind the story.
It was just before noon, and Chris and I were climbing into our news van to head to Putnam County on a story. We were parked on Court Street in White Plains, just outside the entrance to the Westchester County Office Building. I saw a Mercedes Benz pull up behind a Chevy Cavalier about 20 feet in front of us. The Mercedes driver honked, stuck his head out the window, and started to yell at the other driver.
I could see the Chevy was blocking the Mercedes from turning in to a small parking area behind 65 Court Street.
"Hold on," I told Chris. "Something funky is about to go down."
Call it a nose for news. Call it my Spidey sense. Call it a premonition. I just knew this scene was about to turn surreal.
Chris, one of the best in the business, jumped out and moved to the side of the truck to grab his camera. As Chris geared up, I watched the Mercedes driver, later identified as Dr. William Moody, walk up to the Chevy, bang on the window, then yell at the Chevy driver. He also stuck his hand through the window and gestured repeatedly at the driver's face. Moody then walked back to his Mercedes.
Chris and I lingered about 20 feet behind. We wanted to record the scene, but didn't want to add fuel to the fire that seemed about to erupt. Chris started to roll as Moody left his car a second time and walked up to Chevy driver, Luis Infante, yelling "move the car! Move the car!" As the video shows, Moody shoved Infante away and climbed into Infante's Chevy, as if to move it himself. Infante pulled on Moody's arm and Moody got out of the Chevy, shoving Infante one more time and yelling "move it!" Moody then walked back to his Mercedes as Infante pulled the Chevy forward a few feet. Moody yelled some more, then spotted Chris and began walking toward our camera.
As Moody approached I said in a firm voice, "Don't touch him, sir." Moody grabbed the lens of the camera and I repeated "don't touch the camera -- do not touch the camera." Moody ignored me and smacked the side of the camera, at which point I yelled, "You're assaulting him! Officer, some help!" The video briefly shows me looking toward a New York State court officer who was walking past the scene. I called out "officer, some help! He's assaulting my photographer!" The court officer held up his hands as if to say "not my problem," and kept walking by. Gee, thanks.
Moody turned away from Chris and started to walk back to his car. At that point, I ran into the County Office Building to seek help from the county police officers just inside the door.
Because I was inside getting police, I didn't witness the next part myself, but I've watched the video repeatedly.
Chris continued to roll as Moody approached Infante's Chevy a third time. At this point, Infante's sister Yolanda has walked out of 65 Court Street (where her office is just down the hall from Moody's dental practice) and she yells at the dentist "he's waiting for me."
This is where it gets a little tricky, in the view of some who've seen the video.
Our footage shows Moody walking toward Yolanda Infante with his right arm stretched out in front of him. As Moody's arm nears her face, Yolanda responds by pushing Moody on the right side of his torso. He's almost a foot taller than her and clearly was not harmed by her push. Moody responds by yelling "b****" and pushing the woman with his left arm, sending her tumbling to the sidewalk.
There is much chat room discussion about whether Moody was justified in pushing Yolanda Infante, since, in the view of some, she pushed him first. I personally was raised to believe it is never proper for a man to hit a woman unless she's holding a deadly weapon. (For the record, I also oppose women hitting men, and in fact I'm not happy with most hitting under most circumstances. I'm the father of five-year old twin boys, so hitting is a hot topic in my house.)
In any event, in my opinion, the video does not show Yolanda Infante in a bad light.
As I later learned, Luis Infante had double-parked outside his sister's office building so she could run in to grab her checkbook. They were on their way to a funeral home, to pay for services for their 97-year-old father, who had died less than 24 hours earlier.
When the county police came out to detain Moody, it's amazing how quickly the dentist calmed down. It was almost as if he flipped a switch and the anger drained away.
Chris and I consulted with our bosses before heading into the County Office Building to fill out witness statements for police. Chris' right eye was sore, since the viewfinder jammed into his eye socket when Moody grabbed the camera. But he's a pro and he finished his shift.
As we left the security office, we walked past Moody, handcuffed and sitting in a chair.
"Who are you? The BBC?" he asked.
"No, we're WCBS-TV," I replied.
"Will you show them the video?" Moody demanded. "Tell them how it shows those five Hispanics jumping me and beating me up!"
"We'll be going now," I said.
Chris and I got in the truck, chatted for a minute, then drove away. As we stopped for a light, a county police car pulled up next to us. In the back seat was Dr. Moody, still handcuffed.
Moody looked out the window, gave us a big smile, and mouthed the words "I love you guys! I love you guys!"
Funny way to show it.
