How in Hades did this poor lady choke herself? And was David Hans Schmidt involved?
UPDATE: Seems PHX attorney Mike Manning, known for his many successful lawsuits against Sheriff Joe Arpaio, has been retained by Carol Gotbaum's family to keep on eye on the inquiry into Gotbaum's death. Gotbaum's family can likely afford Manning, as they're hot-shot Knickerbockers in the Scrapple. Stay tuned sports fans for more on this breaking story on our killer airport and its New Yorker victim.
So this story of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the Gotham lady who got arrested at Sky Harbor for being "irate," and somehow ended up, er, choking herself to death on her own handcuffs in a holding cell, is the most effed up thing I've heard in years. According to reports, the 45-year-old res. of NY's Yupper West Side (the Y is intentional, people -- it's Seinfeld country up there) missed a flight and went schizo, raising all kinds of Cane until the cops arrived and subdued her. The New York Daily News says "one cop put his knee in her back to restrain her while others grabbed her flailing arms." The Daily News also states that Gotbaum, the daughter-in-law of a prominent NYC politician, screamed "I'm not a terrorist! I'm a sick mom! I need help!" before being subdued.
The PHX PD says they slapped cuffs on her, placed her in a holding cell, and when they went back to check on her 10 minutes later, she was dead, with the handcuffs up 'round her neck.
So I wanna see the footage of her being "irate" and then having to be arrested because she couldn't calm down. Hell, I'm irate every time I have to go near Sky Harbor. Just thinking about airplane travel these days makes me irate. If that means they're gonna handcuff my ass and throw me in a cell, I guess I'll be traveling Greyhound from now on.
The thing about her choking herself sounds especially wack. Even if you get you get your handcuffed hands from behind your back to your front, how do you get them up around your neck and choke yourself? Not that I wanna cast any aspersions on Phoenix's finest, but they've got some friggin' explaining to do, even if it turns out that Gotbaum was psycho. I mean, we're getting into tourist season here, the time of year when people from places like New York fly into Sand Land for vacay. If the authorities don't come up with some answers quick, those Gothamites will be picturing a death-trap when they hear the words "Sky Harbor."
