no-biting

Biting on the rise? People bit at Lollapalooza, at Beyonce & Jay-Z, and by a CNN correspondent too

by Wyatt Marshall

No Biting

Ebola is back, bedbugs are on the N Train, and now one more thing to worry about: being bitten at a concert. Last Friday, at Lollapalooza, Ben Lenet, 29, was allegedly the victim of a biting attack that occurred during Arctic Monkeys‘ day one closing set. You can see a graphic photo of the chomp over at the Chicago Sun Times, who reported the incident. Lenet described the incident on Reddit in an effort to try to identify his attacker. Here’s what Lenet wrote:

Me and two other friends are enjoying the show and have even made some friends around us. The mood of the crowd is really happy and a nice departure from the normal drunken debauchery. Suddenly, I turn around and some guy none of us have ever seen or spoken to, without warning, body slams my friend and begins using his hands to choke him. My other friend begins hitting the assailant in the face. I come from the other side and place my right arm on his right arm and my left arm on his right shoulder, trying to pull him off. The attacker then turns his head and clamps his teeth into my arm for a good 5 seconds. He’s not nipping at me. He’s trying to bite through my arm. At this point, all three of us are hitting him, trying to get him off me…

…Finally he lets go and lunges at the feet of the original bodyslammed-friend, trying to bite him too. He is then kicked pretty squarely in the face.

The attacker has now taken 10-15 blows to the head and been punted in the face. He gets up and walks away. Not stumbling. Not woozy. He just fucking walked away in a straight line. CPD would later tell me they only see assailants like that who are on PCP or bath salts.

As Lenet told the Chicago Sun Times, “I don’t know of a UFC fighter who could’ve taken that punishment and just walked away.” Lenet, who has attended Lollapalooza for the past six years, also told the Sun Times that he does not think he will return next year. As the bite broke the skin, he could have been exposed to HIV or a form of Hepatitis, and was put on a number of drugs and an antibiotic as a precaution. Bloodwork tests came up negative, but he will have to return for additional tests to confirm he was not infected.

A day later, on Saturday (8/2), Roberto Alcaraz-Garnica, 25, was accused of biting off the tip of another man’s finger at a Beyonce-Jay Z concert at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The alleged incident occurred after Alcaraz-Garnica groped the victim’s girlfriend (allegedly). When the victim confronted Alcaraz-Garnica, a fight ensued. In the course of the fight, Alcaraz-Garnica allegedly bit off the tip of the victim’s finger. He has since pleaded not guilty.

Finally, in non-concert-but-still-biting news, CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon allegedly bit two medical workers at the US Embassy in Baghdad on July 19. Damon was reportedly intoxicated during the incident, and bit the EMTs on their forearms as they tried to treat her. The incident is being investigated by the State Department, and the EMTs filed a $2 million lawsuit against Damon and CNN yesterday. In an email apology from Damon to US embassy staff obtained by the New York Post’s Page Six, Damon wrote, “I had not had proper food all day and clearly miscalculated how my body would handle the alcohol consumed … Needless to say, I am utterly mortified and take full responsibility for my actions, which are inexcusable.”