Tennessee Man Charged With Throwing Catfish On Ice In Stanley Cup Game

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup was interrupted by a bizarre act of a fan throwing  large catfish on to the ice.  Jacob Waddell, 36, is charged in the incident though one of the charges may surprise you.

It is a truly weird tradition in Nashville to throw a catfish on the ice. The tradition has only been around since 2003.

Waddell is a Nashville Predators fan and admitted to the responsibility for the disgusting act:

 

Waddell reportedly brought in the catfish from Tennessee in a vacuum sealed bag.  He said that he drove over the catfish with his truck to flatten it out.  He then put the fish into his compression shorts and then took it out in a men’s room at PPG Paints Arena. He then waited under the second period before throwing it over the glass around the rink.  That is a truly bizarre level of premeditation and work to achieve an equally bizarre act.

Waddell was removed and then criminally charged.  Two charges make abundant sense:  disorderly conduct and disrupting a meeting.  However he was also charged with possession of an instrument of crime.

The final charge seems blatant count proliferation where Waddell faces multiple charges for the same basic conduct.  Here is the provision:

     § 907.  Possessing instruments of crime.
        (a)  Criminal instruments generally.--A person commits a
     misdemeanor of the first degree if he possesses any instrument
     of crime with intent to employ it criminally.
        . . . 
        (d)  Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
     words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
     subsection:
 . . . 
        "Instrument of crime."  Any of the following:
            (1)  Anything specially made or specially adapted for
        criminal use.
            (2)  Anything used for criminal purposes and possessed by
        the actor under circumstances not manifestly appropriate for
        lawful uses it may have.

That open-ended crime would fit a vast array of crimes, including holding a catfish to throw on to the ice in a hockey game.

To make matters worse, Waddell decided to go on Twitter after his arrest to brag about his act.  Waddell told reporters that he is just a “dumb redneck with a bad idea.” Various people in Nashville are coming to his aid.  Frankly, they could do with a new tradition, but Pennsylvania could do with greater definition in their criminal code.