Man charged in swan's death

[douglas9]

FRUITPORT, Mich. -- Authorities in western Michigan have charged a man with a misdemeanor after his personal watercraft struck and killed a male swan.

Witnesses told police that Timothy Graves was taunting the swan by circling it with his personal watercraft on Memorial Day at Spring Lake in Muskegon County. It was during the final hours of the Fruitport Old-Fashioned Days festival.

The 23-year-old Graves says he feels "horrible" but insists he didn't intentionally kill the swan. He says he was trying to get to open water to avoid the swan when the collision occurred.

Graves says some people had been attacked by swans. He told the Muskegon Chronicle, "I didn't want to be the next one."

Graves is charged with killing a protected bird. The maximum penalty is 90 days in jail.

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http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/sbt-man-charged-in-swans-death-20110605,0,197820,print.story

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1. The jerk justifies his actions as self-defense, then denies he took any action.

Let's put this moron in the water and let me circle him with my watercraft - let him be at my mercy, the fucking piece of human waste.