Wednesday,
January 1, 2003
By
Juan Copete, Las Cruces Herald of Truth Editor
Las
Cruces, NM – An official from Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces reports
that the condition of Timmy Smith has been upgraded from fair to good and that
the popular reporter for the Herald of Truth will be released from the
hospital soon. Smith was nearly killed
on Christmas Eve when he was electrocuted by his neighbor’s Christmas
decorations.
For several consecutive Christmas seasons, Smith’s
neighbor, Cortez Jackson, has put up a lavish display of brightly lit elves,
reindeer and carnival toys. The Jackson
home has been a popular spot for families who drive around town to view
Christmas decorations. Police reports
indicate that on Christmas Eve, an apparently intoxicated Smith went to the Jackson
home to complain about the volume of traffic that Jackson’s Christmas displays
were bringing into the neighborhood.
After a heated argument, Smith allegedly threw a whiskey bottle at a
rooftop Santa Claus display, knocking the display to the ground. Smith then proceeded to urinate on an
ice-skating elf. Smith’s urine acted as
a conductor to the electricity powering the elf, and Smith suffered a severe
electrical shock. Emergency personnel arrived
at the scene and performed CPR on Smith whose heart had stopped beating.
After
being released from the hospital, Smith will require additional reconstructive
surgery. Hospital officials have declined
to give details about the surgery.