‘SoHo Wild Man’ Facing Jail Time On Drug Offense
Richard Pearson with lawyer in court (CBS 2)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – The so-called SoHo Wild Man known for terrorizing the neighborhood near Spring Street is headed to jail.
As WCBS 880’s Irene Cornell reported, Richard Pearson faces up to a year in jail after pleading guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor drug charge.
The Wild Man is notorious on Spring Street and the surrounding neighborhood for verbally and physically assaulting anyone in his path, Cornell reported.
The 6-foot-5 panhandler wasn’t charged in a brick attack in May, but has been locked up since then. He injured a passerby in that incident.
Pearson’s court appearances in the past have drawn a crowd of local residents and Spring Street retailers who’ve complained he’s a menace to the neighborhood.
Ahead of a Sept. court appearance, concerned residents flooded the judge with dozens of letters begging him to keep Pearson off of the street.
“Once he’s back out again then we have to look all the time to see where he is. So, it’s very frightening,” one SoHo resident said at the time.
“He threatened to force me to perform sexual activity on him,” said another resident.
His rap sheet shows 16 arrests in the past 30 years, but he’s never been off the streets for long, Cornell reported.
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