The season of spookiness is almost upon us. The end of hot summer days will lead into chill autumn nights. Darkness will descend upon us earlier, and all sorts of frights will appear on television. Masked killers, like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees, will terrorize people in film. That’s where these facades are supposed to stay. But for citizens of Philadelphia, they become all too real.
In the early hours of August 12th, a man allegedly terrorized pedestrians on Philadelphia’s JFK Boulevard. The most notable feature of him was the mask he wore. It resembled the horror icon Chucky from the Child’s Play franchise. He proceeded to harass and chase passersby, resulting in at least one serious injury to a woman in her 40s. The masked man allegedly approached her with one hand behind his back. He then asked, “Are you ready to die?” He held a phone up to her face, potentially recording the interaction to post to social media. At least that’s the theory.
Capturing Chucky
What “Chucky” didn’t plan on was for the woman to stumble, fall, and sustain a serious injury. The extent of the damage was not disclosed. On Tuesday, August 25th at 8 p.m., Nevada’s U.S. Marshal Violent Offender Task Force took suspect 22-year-old Zymire Hughes into custody. He reportedly did not resist when officers arrested him for the alleged incident. According to Marshal’s Supervisory Deputy Robert Clark, Zymire had been a resident of Las Vegas since February of this year.
As of right now, it’s unknown, or at least not reported, as to what Zymire’s motivations were. Clark explained some of the timeline, though. “He fled Philadelphia on Aug. 19 from Trenton Mercer Airport in Ewing, N.J., to Orlando International. He then flew from Orlando to Harry Reid International in Las Vegas.” Now he’s going to be extradited to Philly to continue the prosecution process. This isn’t the worst possible outcome for a potential social media stunt gone wrong. Still, these kinds of acts can go very bad, very quickly for Chucky or anyone else.
Chasing Stupidity
People do dumb shit all the time. We’re all guilty of it, and when we’re doing it, we don’t always think of the consequences. When you scare someone with mortal fear, they can react in unpredictable ways that can put others in harm’s way too. Oh, and not for nothing, but Chucky doesn’t even wear a mask, and Zymire is obviously taller than a Good Guy Doll. Way to do your costume research, bro.
But seriously, these are acts that are never worth the clout chasing. Internet fame is as fleeting as Taylor Lautner‘s career. Maybe you think you’re going to go viral and get that sweet, sweet YouTube money. It’s not going to happen. Even if it does, you’ll be old news in a matter of days, and those residual checks will be sadder than… Taylor Lautner’s career. Just not worth it.
We poke a bit of fun here, but we hope the woman who was injured recovers without further incident.
