Paul sues neighbor who attacked him
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has sued a neighbor who attacked him in his front yard last year, seeking damages to compensate for “physical pain and mental suffering.”
The New York Times reports Paul filed the lawsuit against his neighbor, Rene A. Boucher, 60, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Friday, one week after Boucher was sentenced to 30 days in prison for the attack. Boucher, a retired anesthesiologist, pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of assaulting a member of Congress.
The attack last November resulted in several broken ribs and precipitated a recurrent case of pneumonia, keeping Paul out of work in Washington for nearly two weeks, the senator’s spokesman said earlier this month.
The lawsuit, filed in Warren County Circuit Court in Bowling Green, said Paul was seeking both compensatory and punitive damages for the medical expenses he incurred, his increased susceptibility to health problems and the deprivation of “enjoyment of life” he has experienced as a result of the attack.
Boucher’s actions were “unnecessarily cruel, malicious, willful, wanton” and showed reckless disregard for Paul’s “rights, life and liberties,” the suit contends.
On Nov. 3, Paul was mowing his lawn while wearing headphones when Boucher ran over and tackled the lawmaker, according to federal prosecutors. The attack was prompted by Boucher’s irritation over Paul’s tendency to stack brush near his property, prosecutors said.
The lawsuit asks for a restraining order against Boucher that bars him from contacting Paul and his family, contending that Boucher will continue a pattern of “stalking and harassment.”
Matthew J. Baker, a lawyer for Boucher, said the request for a restraining order was unnecessary because the judge who sentenced Boucher ordered him to avoid contact with Paul and his family.