Latest news with #Buzzard
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
WATCH: Lewis County judge tackles suspect in courthouse after attempting to flee
This story was originally published on A Lewis County judge detained a suspect personally by tackling him and holding him down until law enforcement arrived. According to security footage obtained by The Centralia Chronicle, Judge R.W. Buzzard assisted in restraining a man who attempted to escape court. The suspect ran for the elevator, fought with a court officer, and tried to get away before Buzzard tackled him in a hallway on the fourth floor of the Lewis County Law and Justice Center. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer also aided in restraining the suspect. The suspect, Justin Smith, 29, of Chehalis, was reprimanded for skipping court-ordered mental health treatment. He fled from Judge Joely Yeager's courtroom just before 12 p.m. Tuesday after he was ordered to go back into police custody for missing his treatment. In the obtained security footage, Court Security Officer Jamey McGinty is seen drawing and aiming his Taser at Smith. Smith's court-ordered defense attorney, Christopher Baum, was also there during the confrontation. Cornered in an elevator, Smith swung and punched McGinty before Buzzard took him to the ground. The three stayed for several minutes to keep him restrained before law enforcement officers were able to arrive. Smith was booked into jail at approximately 12:05 p.m. According to The Centralia Chronicle, this was at least the third time Buzzard had personally restrained someone in the Lewis County Law and Justice Center. In April 2018, Buzzard physically restrained someone after they assaulted the opposing attorney. Six months later, in October, he chased after two inmates who attempted to flee from a court hearing. He was able to grab one of the inmates before he left the building, while the second escapee was caught a couple of blocks away. Follow Frank Sumrallon X. Send news tips here.
Los Angeles Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
In ‘Vulcanizadora,' the limits of guilt and anxiety are probed
The sardonic meme phrase 'Are men okay?' gets a bleakly amusing yet quietly devastating workover in Joel Potrykus' 'Vulcanizadora,' about a pair of downtrodden dudes on a disturbingly consequential journey into the woods near Lake Michigan. In its focused glimpse into a strange, funny-sad friendship, it's almost mesmerizingly nonjudgmental as it treks to a very dark place. That doesn't mean 'Vulcanizadora' lacks a point of view. Potrykus' cinematic playground — forged in small-scale curios like 'Buzzard' and 'Relaxer' — is the stagnant air of failure surrounding a certain kind of shameless, embittered, immature guy for whom life's richest challenges are video-game levels and petty pranks. Mel Brooks famously contextualized our perspective on misfortune when he said, 'Tragedy is when I cut my finger, comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.' But Potrykus, whose oeuvre of slacker micro-apocalypses has become as distinctive as anyone's in the DIY indie realm, seems intent on finding a discomfiting if poetic space between those poles, where your snickers might be colored by a slight repugnance, and at times you'll stare as you would at a half-squished insect still trying to move. 'Vulcanizadora' is a 10-years-later follow-up to 'Buzzard' — because the word 'sequel' almost sounds too materialistically mercenary for such lo-fi fare as this. But knowing that may not be necessary, because as the story's humans come into view from the leafy serenity of Adam J. Minnick's 16mm cinematography, it doesn't take long to grasp who Marty, played by longtime Potrykus collaborator Joshua Burge, and motormouth Derek (Potrykus) are: inexperienced campers, committed weirdos, close pals, stunted juveniles and men on a mission to fulfill an obligation they've made to each other. The details of their pact aren't initially clear, but the journey seems tilted toward appeasing Derek's junky pleasures: bottle rockets, martial arts play-acting, swigging Jaeger from a canteen, porn mags. Marty, meanwhile, hollow-eyed and churlish about straying from their objective, seems haunted with guilt after a recent stint in jail for setting a building on fire. (Marty's deteriorating life of small-time criminality was the loose narrative of 'Buzzard,' although it's best known for a long take of him messily eating spaghetti that could almost qualify as dirtbag performance art.) Burge is a singular screen presence, like an R. Crumb misfit made real, and it's almost touching how much faith Potrykus has in the awkward majesty of staying on his face so that Marty's sour desperation tips us over from wanting to laugh at him to feeling sorry for his misery. But Potrykus, whose character was mostly a punching bag in 'Buzzard,' also gives himself a chance to make this a real two-hander when the vibrating Derek's own regrets eventually come to the surface — he's got a 5-year-old son he knows he's ill-suited to be a real father to — and we see the lost man inside the arrested adolescent. Potrykus makes a psychologically revealing meal out of every nervous interjection of Derek's until they become animalistic and eventually sorrowful. Flush with emotion after expressing some of that deep-set pain and perhaps trying to stave off a no-turning-back reality, Derek tries to convince his friend he feels better getting everything out. But Marty's right there to let him know that tomorrow he'll feel bad all over again. And that feels real too, as if it were this fable's slap-you-awake moral. But then, on the lake's gleaming shore, 'Vulcanizadora' reveals its truest colors with a horrifying, absurd twist of fate for these two that, if not exactly unpredictable, kicks off a final act of smudgy, eccentric, farcical grace about the complicated bonds of friendship. The ending's a downer, all right, but you might just smile too. Then feel bad about it. Then chuckle. Which is when you realize Potrykus has you right where he wants you.
New York Times
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘Vulcanizadora' Review: Guilt Trip
Midway through 'Vulcanizadora,' the fifth feature from the eccentric indie actor and filmmaker Joel Potrykus, his character, Derek, asks his best friend, Marty (Joshua Burge), to consider that hell might be no more than never-ending anxiety. 'Can you imagine that? Being nervous forever?' The two are hiking through a Michigan forest en route to a terrible, as yet unrevealed destination, and viewers familiar with Potrykus's work will feel a stab of amusement: Perpetual unease is a state he has always imagined with exquisite precision. Revisiting the losers we met a decade ago in 'Buzzard,' 'Vulcanizadora' wonders where slackers go when their adolescent behaviors no longer serve. Nowhere good, is the answer, as these pitiable, middle-aged misfits gradually reveal lives that are likely unsalvageable. Marty, a small-time crook, is facing a second stint in prison and living in his childhood basement. Derek is divorced, estranged from his young son (played by Potrykus's real son, Solo) and unreliably medicated. Both are depleted from past mistakes and on the verge of making one of the worst imaginable. When everyone thinks you're a no-count, then nothing you do can ever count. Potrykus, though — an inveterate hand-to-mouth practitioner — persists in treating the lost and the left-behind as if they matter, and his signature empathy is pronounced here. As is his fascination with fire as an arbiter of emotional disturbance: Like the pyromaniac of 'Ape' (2014), Marty may be an arsonist, and his emphatic wretchedness finds expression in a lingering, hauntingly surreal close-up of black snake fireworks slowly uncoiling. Spasmodically funny, though hardly a comedy, 'Vulcanizadora' is raw, moving and, briefly, horrifying. In the press notes, Potrykus admits to having worried that becoming a father would cause him to soften and 'start telling stories of hope and inspiration.' That may be the funniest joke of all.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
Man accused of threatening Kern County Supervisor Jeff Flores says he sent emails to all supervisors, insists he's the one being threatened in jailhouse interview
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The 61-year-old man accused of threatening Kern County Supervisor Jeff Flores is due back in court next Thursday. This week, Parrish Buzzard agreed to speak with 17 News for a jailhouse interview. He has been charged with three felonies and is being held without bail at the Lerdo Pre-Trial Facility. 17's Jenny Huh: 'You're being accused of sending threatening messages.' Parrish Buzzard: 'No, no, they're threatening me, man.' 17's Jenny Huh: 'So, going back to Jeff Flores, tell us more specifically how Flores is threatening you?' Man arrested after allegedly sending threats to member on Board of Supervisors Parrish Buzzard: 'It's the whole Board of Supervisors. It's the whole thing. They never reached out; they took my money.' Parrish Buzzard also called Supervisor Jeff Flores a creep. But Buzzard said he sent emails to all five county supervisors, not just Flores. 'It was really to different ones, it means all of them [supervisors], I just didn't have time to type it all in and stuff,' Buzzard said. 17's Jenny Huh: 'So, it just happened to go to Jeff Flores, but you're not targeting him?' Parrish Buzzard: 'No, I sent it to different, other supervisors too, to all of them. 17's Jenny Huh: 'I don't think they received it, they said it was only Flores?' Parrish Buzzard: 'That's false.' Buzzard faces three felony charges — stalking, making criminal threats and threatening a state official. Charges filed against man accused of threatening Supervisor Jeff Flores A public defender entered not guilty pleas on Buzzard's behalf. But during his arraignment, Buzzard lashed out, using numerous profanities. 'Well, I had a real bad headache, and I was in a lot of pain in. My foot and arm and stuff, and I was filthy and all this stuff, and they weren't being cool at all,' Buzzard explained. 'I think when she was saying I was stalking, I thought what are you talking about? I'm the one that's been stalked for years, many, many years.' He also said he's been homeless, suffers from PTSD, has had seizures and said many people have tried to kill him. A significant portion of the 50-minute-long conversation was filled with tangents, incoherence and countless references to politicians, books, movies and music, including 'Silence of the Lambs,' 'Jeepers Creepers,' 'The Truman Show,' Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer. Buzzard also lamented about not being able to receive Social Security and disability benefits — as well as healthcare and housing assistance — for years. Through the interview, 17 News learned Buzzard is an introvert who was born and raised in Fresno. He said he moved to Bakersfield in May 2022 because he felt Fresno was like a 'death trap.' Buzzard also had scratches on his face. He said he claws his skin during his sleep and said he has frequent nightmares and 'very terrible nights.' Man charged with threatening Jeff Flores removed from court after profane outburst In a statement to 17 News, Flores said: 'Prior to the recent hundred-plus emails from Mr. Parrish Buzzard I, nor my staff, have ever had any interaction with him. I do not know him, nor have I ever met him. Additionally, I have never threatened Mr. Buzzard in any way. Unfortunately, he's the one who's threatening me. I am always committed to serving all my constituents who reach out for assistance to the best of my ability.' 17 News asked Buzzard about allegations he had threatened former District 3 Supervisor Mike Maggard. Buzzard denied those allegations, saying he doesn't know who Maggard is. 17 News also asked about a prior arrest in Fresno for the same charge — criminal threats. Buzzard was unable to detail specifics about the incident. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
