Tamarac man allegedly runs over, kills neighbor after Halloween prank
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%2Dnews%2Dbroward Tamarac man allegedly runs over, kills neighbor after
Halloween prank By Susannah Bryan
Sun-Sentinel
November 1, 2001
TAMARAC -- As he lay dying in his brother-in-law's arms, Robert
Campbell, victim of what police say was a Halloween prank gone tragically
awry, had instructions for his family: Don't grieve for me.
He wants us to wear Dolphin shirts and have a couple beers in his
name, said family friend Jason Clark. Those were his last
words.
Campbell was waiting for his three youngest nephews to come home with
Halloween candy Wednesday night when eggs hit his bedroom window. He was
dead more than two hours later, nine days before his 41st birthday.
According to Broward Sheriffs Office spokesman Jim Leljedal,
Campbell was deliberately run over about 10:10 p.m. Wednesday by Richard
Day, 58, who had gone to three houses seeking revenge after Halloween
pranksters pelted his home with eggs and shaving cream.
Deputies said Day told them he deliberately ran over Campbell with his
Dodge Dakota pickup. He was arrested Thursday on murder charges at his home
in the 7300 block of Northwest 61st St.
Day, whose 12-year-old son was in the truck during the alleged rampage, is
being held without bond in Broward County Jail.
According to police, Day became enraged when his house was egged shortly
before 10 p.m. on Halloween. He grabbed a carton of eggs from the
refrigerator, jumped in the truck with his son and drove to a home on
Northwest 62nd Street, a few blocks away.
As he pulled into the driveway, he knocked over a trash can, jumped out of
the truck and threw eggs at the house. When the owner came outside, Day
tried to punch him but missed and fell to the ground, hitting his face on a
cement meter box, police said.
Day jumped back into his truck and sped southeast to the home on Northwest
71st Avenue where Robert Campbell lived with his sister and brother-in-law,
Connie and Fred Rosser, and four nephews. Day may have headed to the house
because his son knew the boys who lived there, Clark said.
Under a full moon, Day started hurling eggs at the home, police said.
Campbell heard the eggs hit his bedroom window and came outside with his
brother-in-law, Fred Rosser, and his eldest nephew, Michael Spinella, said
Clark.
Michael, a 16-year-old football player at Piper High School, said he was
one of the kids who egged Day's house, but did not say why. The rest
of the Rosser family was out trick-or-treating at a neighborhood in
Margate. Although Campbell never liked Halloween much, he did like to share
his nephew's candy, Clark said.
Campbell was standing in front of the house when he was hit by Day's
truck and dragged six houses to the north, police said. Campbell died of
massive internal injuries at Broward General Medical Center at 12:37 a.m.
Thursday.
He took my son's life, for eggs Campbell's
mother, Marie Spinella, told reporters Thursday near the spot where her son
died. He was a good boy. He never hurt anybody.
Campbell worked for an independent contractor laying tile, Clark said. He
was a native New Yorker, but he always rooted for the Miami Dolphins.
My last memory of Robert was sitting in his room having a beer.
Thats the way I want to remember him,Clark said from the
front porch of his friends home, broken egg shells and dried yellow
yolk not far from his feet. After Day's truck was free of
Campbells body, Day continued on to a third house for another
egging, police said. He then returned to where Campbell lay in the street
and yelled, He got what he deserved,according to police. At
that, he drove home with his son.
Neighbors describe Day as being a private, kind man who doted on his wife
and son and worked hard to keep his yard neat.
He was unemployed, and had no criminal history, Leljedal said.
He was a nice fella,said Enrico Summaria, 79, who often saw
Day fishing with his son in the lake that edged up to their back yard.
I don't know what triggered him off. I just talked to him
[Wednesday] afternoon. Everything was fine.
But apparently, everything was not fine. Police say they were called to
Day's house twice on May 14. The first call was a domestic
disturbance, Leljedal said. The second came an hour later and involved a
suicide attempt. Details were not available Thursday as to the domestic
disturbance or who made the suicide attempt.
Campbell's family spent much of Thursday in shock and tears.
This is incredible,said Campbell's 34-year-old
brother, Anthony Spinella, staring at the bloody skid marks down Northwest
71st Avenue. This is just unbelievable.
The woman who lives in the first home targeted in Day's Halloween
rampage stared at the skid marks in front of her home on Northwest 62nd
Street.
You see these marks here?she said. He killed
somebody. Killed somebody. I was asleep the whole time.
//////////////////////////////
--
"..and that you may never experience the
humility that the power of the American Government
has reduced me to, is the wish of him, who, in his
native forests, was once as proud and bold as yourself."
Black Hawk, 1833
