Tips Lead to Arrest of Clown AssailantAug 18, 3:28 PM (ET)
RENO, Nev. (AP) - A man dressed as a clown who assaulted another man and stole his bicycle at last year's Burning Man festival has been sentenced after the victim's friends tracked down the disguised assailant.
Dennis Hinkamp had to have two plates implanted in his arm after the attack at the annual counterculture festival on the Black Rock Desert.
Though his attacker disappeared into the crowd of painted and costumed celebrants, Hinkamp's friends launched an Internet search to find him.
They linked him to a group called Anarchoclowns, and finally to a hospital in Washington, where Johnny Goodman was a nursing student.
"If you're a nursing student in Seattle and you're a clown, you're pretty identifiable," Hinkamp's friend, Jim Graham of Felton, Calif., told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Goodman eventually confessed and was sentenced Tuesday in Pershing County to one count of conspiracy to commit theft, a gross misdemeanor, District Attorney Jim Shirley said.
Before sentencing, Goodman apologized to Hinkamp for hurting him and to the court for wasting its time, said Graham, who attended the hearing with Hinkamp, a resident of Logan, Utah.
Hinkamp said he accepted Goodman's statement.
"I generally believe he's remorseful for what happened," Hinkamp told the newspaper, but added he's not sure Goodman was taking full responsibility and might be blaming it on alcohol or a breakup with his girlfriend.
Goodman paid $21,000 restitution and was placed on probation for three years, Shirley said. He also was barred from Burning Man, prohibited from entering bars or casinos and must submit to drug and alcohol testing.
Hinkamp, who works as a Burning Man volunteer, said he was riding his bike away from the crowd gathered for the torching of the tall wooden sculpture that marks the festival when he saw the clown coming toward him.
"He pushed me over and the way I caught myself, I broke my arm," Hinkamp said. As he struggled to stand, the clown punched him in the face and kicked him several times, he said.
The clown rode off on the bike and Hinkamp was helped to the medical tent, he said. Once back in Utah, he was diagnosed with a radial head fracture and underwent surgery. He ended up with two plates and 13 screws in his arm, Graham said.
The clown might have remained anonymous had it not been for the efforts of Graham and others who immediately tried to find the culprit clown. They posted messages on two Burning Man Internet discussion lists asking for tips.
They soon learned the clown's name was Johnny and that he was part of a group of clowns who had gathered for the event.
In response to the Internet chatter, a person posted an apology, but didn't reveal his name. Graham turned the e-mail address over to a former-hacker friend, who traced it to a medical center in Seattle.
Graham began communicating with the clown, urging him to identify himself and saying it was only a matter of time before he would be found.
Goodman eventually came forward.
"I did a horrible thing and I should pay for it," his note said. "I don't know what came over me. I'm really not a psycho ... I attacked you and I am deeply ashamed."
Graham and Hinkamp turned the information over to law enforcement, and Goodman was arrested.
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