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 Robert Giacobbi with a sign targeting bylaw officials who told him to remove a sign at Wilde's, a gay sex shop in Ottawa, after a local resident complained. (TONY SPEARS/QMI Agency) |
OTTAWA – Days after complaining to bylaw officers and police about a lewd sign in front of an Ottawa sex shop, a 53-year-old man is now accused of smashing out its front window early Sunday morning.
Incensed over Wilde's chalkboard sign hawking anal douches, Richard Cormier called the city and the media to condemn the marketing ploy.
He succeeded in getting bylaw officers to warn store owner Robert Giacobbi on Aug. 9, who covered the sign with hand-lettered bristol board decrying Ottawa's "anal bylaw."
But on Sunday, police say Cormier took a more direct approach.
Witnesses saw a man remove the metal bin liner from a city garbage can and attack the front window at about 2:45 a.m.
The glass was resilient, but it shattered under his alleged relentless assault.
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A woman across the street from Wilde's called 911.
She told Giacobbi the man had drawn a crowd and that many had told him to stop.
Cormier was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000. He was released on a promise to appear.
"That comes as a shock," Giacobbi said.
Cormier had told QMI Agency that the ad's solicitation to "put a smile in your ass" had triggered memories of childhood abuse, a public confession that struck Giacobbi as "brave."
Meanwhile, the anal douche sign has stayed covered since the bylaw officer's visit. It had been inside the shop for the night, but Giacobbi had placed a printout of online comments made in response to QMI Agency's story — expressing varying levels of support for Giacobbi and Cormier — in the shop window.
Replacing the window will cost him a few thousand dollars, Giacobbi said.
He is still awaiting his next visit from bylaw officers.
Giacobbi had asked them to return with a rationale for censoring the supposedly offensive sign.
None has been forthcoming.
tony.spears@sunmedia.ca