DOCUMENT: Bizarre, Internet, Crime

Vile Viral Video Star's Raging Past

YouTube rant not first time Mass. woman went postal

Erika Winchester

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Winchester Arrests

NOVEMBER 12--The Massachusetts woman seen delivering a racist rant on a viral YouTube video once threatened a cop that she would “chop off” his genitals after he arrested her for trespassing at a community theater rehearsal where she warned cast members they would “get it with a machine gun.”

Erika Winchester, 60, can be seen in the YouTube video using racial slurs as she berates a mailman outside her home in Hingham. The conformation, recorded by the postal worker, can be viewed below.

[The confrontation seen on the YouTube clips occurred last October 13, according to police, who learned of the incident from a postal supervisor. While the mailman involved, Hugson Jean, did not want to pursue charges against Winchester, police went to her home and conducted an interview. While denying that she struck the 48-year-old Jean, pictured at right, Winchester admitted to using racial slurs during her harangue, according to Hingham Police Lt. Michael Peraino.

After reviewing Jean’s video, police filed a criminal application before a clerk magistrate for assault and battery as a hate crime. At a court hearing last November, Jean’s lawyer appeared and said that his client did not want charges filed and would refuse to testify against Winchester. As such, the case was held in abeyance for a year, and will be formally disposed of on November 24.]

Police records show that Winchester was arrested in January 2007 after causing a disturbance at the Hingham National Guard Armory, where rehearsals were underway for an annual charity cabaret. Cops were summoned after Winchester made “frightening comments” to fellow cast members, according to a Hingham Police Department report.

A cabaret organizer told officers that Winchester told a cast member “that anyone who wrongs her would ‘get it with a machine gun.’” A second witness confirmed the threatening comment, adding that Winchester was “making off the wall comments about being wronged in the past.”

A source present during the disturbance confirmed that Winchester was the woman seen in the YouTube videos, adding that the clips have been widely exchanged among Hingham residents over the past week.

When officers asked Winchester to leave the armory, she refused, and “became immediately offensive.” Cops subsequently placed her under arrest, though she resisted when an officer sought to handcuff her. When she refused to get into the back of a police cruiser, Winchester had to be forced into the vehicle by three cops.

“While putting Winchester in my cruiser, “ Officer Philip Tracey reported, “she made the comment that she was going to chop off my genitals.”

Trespass, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest charges against Winchester were eventually dismissed, according to court records.

Winchester was also arrested in August 2005 for drunk driving after she crashed her Volvo through a street sign and narrowly missed driving head-on into a minivan, according to a police report. Cops found a bloodied Winchester, who reeked of booze, in front of her Kimball Beach Road home. There, one officer reported, “I saw her attempt to strike one of the paramedics.” As a result, police and rescue workers were "forced to restrain her in order for them to treat her injuries.”

While at a local hospital, Winchester--who told cops she consumed three glasses of wine before the accident--“at times would make odd statements and would go from being very polite to the hospital staff to rude and insulting.”

Winchester was charged with drunk driving, endangering, and leaving the scene of an accident. She subsequently entered a no contest plea to the drunk driving count and was ordered to attend an alcohol education program. Additionally, Winchester’s driver’s license was suspended for 45 days and she was ordered to pay restitution to the Town of Hingham for damage sustained during the crash. (5 pages)

Comments (31)

I am quite surprised that nobody here made the connection to her possible Bloodline...She IS a Winchester...(See Winchester Mansion) Just somethin to think about... BTW? Nobody trusts anyone anymore...and This? Is just feeding the fire...Talking Monkeys indeed.
Ahem. I'm pretty sure that Winchester is her married name. I think her hubby blew away a long time ago.
i saw the video when it first hit the web. seeing all these other incidents in relation to this woman makes it clear that she should be locked away in a padded room for a long while.
Typical Massachusetts liberal saying what they really think and say behind closed doors.
You've shown your very "truth" in your post. You are a tea party member, not willing to admit that she would also be a tea party member and by extension a republican. Liberal, INDEED! You are exactly like Faux News when a republican politician gets busted trying to have sex with male pages or a pickup in the local urinal. The politicians name followed by the letter "D". trying to mislead the weak and gullible.
In no way are Massachusetts liberals believing that an African American man should be classified as a lesser being, intellectually or otherwise. You should be ashamed of yourself for even saying such things. Even if you disagree with the politics in Massachusetts, you should never accuse a wide group of out right racism. You are the one who is prejudiced here. There is no valid group that believes that the reaction of this imbalanced woman is okay in this day and age. I, among many other Massachusetts residents are extremely insulted by your comments. You are at this moment are just a big a bigot as that woman on the video.
The person is a bigot, but in this instance he is a republican bigot, trying to mislead by stating she is a liberal. She is no liberal.
I've met the woman in question and she's is clearly nuts but separately, she is an unpleasant person. She used to be an actress and appears in "Hooch"--featuring Gil Gerrard (Buck Rogers) in a film about a family of Southern moonshiners, the target of New York mobsters.
Lol, I dont buy the "she just crazy" stuff. If shes crazy she shouldnt be out and about assaulting and harassing people...public servants nonetheless. I know the guy didnt press charges..but what happens when she decides to do something else to some other innocent civilian who happens to cross paths with her?
She didn't start name calling until she was frustrated with not getting anywhere with "civility". Why didn't the letter carrier just acknowledge that she signed the signature card by mistake, give her back the card and deliver the letter to the person named on the envelope? I think we've all experienced someone who couldn't see past the "policy" of the employer.
At face value, your theory is that civility is an automatic way to get your way. Simply based on what you said, one can surmise that any request, however out of bounds or close to the line, should be OK'd. And that, Randy Leonard, is ludicrous. Furthermore, what you propose is that this gentleman turn to breaking the rules before a legitimate case is even made. If he were to turn coat in that way, and if all of us were to turn coat in that way, there would be no civilization at all. Civility and civilization are founded on boundaries, on rules that we all play by. Changing those rules on a simple whim unhinges the foundation. Sure, it would be nice if (1) we could all get our own way if we are simply nice, civil, and (2) any authority could reconsider a policy simply because it poses somewhat of a hassle for a single person. But we don't live in that world. According to your postulate, it would pay off to be nasty at any turn. Thanks, but don't sign me up.
I wonder if "Randy Leonard" is actually Randy Winchester... Erika's husband?
Hey Sherlock, Randy WINCHESTER is Erika's EX-husband. Of course, all the amateur sleuths who frequent Smoking Gun already know this, right? It's a simple matter of public record, right? Duh-uh! Duh. You guys are getting waaay too lazy and sloppy.
The reason why, if you had been listening to what he said, is that he can't. You cannot unsign a signature on a certified letter. He would lose his job. he told her to sort it out at the post office. Nice work trying to justify her actions though. Good to know you think it's ok to call someone a *** for being rigid about thier job in order to not lose it. Stay classy Randy Leonard.
Someone might want to check Randy Leonard's arrest record, too. Anyone trying to rationalize racist behavior and language is complicit.
Huh? Speaking as a person who is certifiable, this woman is just mean. Since when does mental illness give us a pass? If she is that affected she should be in a group home or something. She gives us nut jobs a bad name.
Point well taken and well made.
They don't call them "Masshats" for nothing.
As others have commented on here that this women seems to have some kinda mental illness. This may be true, she could be having an angry bipolar mood swing. Or it could be that this is how she REALLY feels. Just because you don't like it does not mean this is not her true reality and thoughts. Unfortunately there is still a VERY large segment of the population that feel and speak like she does out there. I don't personally agree with her thought process. But, It is what it is. Like it or not it still exist, probably more than you would like to think. This is not that unusual AT ALL. Not everyone is on aboard the politically correct train or do they care to be. There are people that really feel this way. She just got caught on camera with her big mouth a yapping. On the flip-side.... Some black people feel just the same way about other races (you here it all the time), saying the same S*** behind closed doors and out in the open mostly.... Absolutely tear into Whites, Hispanics and especially Koreans. It's just as bad if not worse! Just a lot of pissed off angry people out there looking for someone to blame their own personal BS on and not take personal responsibility for their own plight. Like it or not, this sooo exist!!!! Just saying.... If you say it doesn't your full of S*** or just BSing yourself. Common as ....
So, ignore everything viewed in the video, because there are people of other races that "may" feel the same way. You guys are always so ready with the excuses for some of the most egregrious behaviors displayed by your elders.
Did not say Masshats
I commend the letter carrier for keeping his cool. I would have let a lougie fly right between her eyes if that was me. What a douche!
No one has mentioned whether this person was psychologically evaluated. Her actions would indicate that she is either schizoaffective or schizophrenic. They need to help her instead of ridicule her. Certainly no one wants to hear this kind of dialogue but consider the fact that normal people would not behave like this.
Normal being... non-racist, inclusive, socially progressive people who donated to the Haitian earthquake relief fund and adopted a couple Chinese girls? I get what you're saying about this woman exhibiting symptoms of mental illness, but you have to also consider the alternative explanation: that she is simply a hot tempered, racist woman who thinks she can intimidate people into doing her bidding. I think it's too easy to throw everyone in rehab for saying ***, having affairs, or going home with a tranny. "My behavior was despicable... clearly I'm addicted to racial slurs. I will be undergoing treatment at New Horizons Rehabilitation Clinic for the next few months to understand why I said the word *** even though I'm totally, TOTALLY not a racist." Blech. This woman's just an asshat in my book. If she or her family thinks she needs help, then let them go find it. In the meantime, she should be punished by the law the same as any other asshat.
As others have commented on here that this women seems to have some kinda mental illness. This may be true, she could be having an angry bipolar mood swing. Or it could be that this is how she REALLY feels. Just because you don't like it does not mean this is not her true reality and thoughts. Unfortunately there is still a VERY large segment of the population that feel and speak like she does out there. I don't personally agree with her thought process. But, It is what it is. Like it or not it still exist, probably more than you would like to think. This is not that unusual AT ALL. Not everyone is on aboard the politically correct train or do they care to be. There are people that really feel this way. She just got caught on camera with her big mouth a yapping. On the flip-side.... Some black people feel just the same way about other races (you here it all the time), saying the same S*** behind closed doors and out in the open mostly.... Absolutely tear into Whites, Hispanics and especially Koreans. It's just as bad if not worse! Just a lot of pissed off angry people out there looking for someone to blame their own personal BS on and not take personal responsibility for their own plight. Like it or not, this sooo exist!!!! Just saying.... If you say it doesn't your full of BS or just BSing yourself.
I've seen this story all over the web and nowhere has anyone brought this up. It's as clear as night and day and thank you for injecting some sanity. I really hate when people grab the pitchforks before really thinking about a situation. I'm all about stringing up any old racist but this woman is CLEARLY not connected to reality in a way that needs professional help, not internet scorn. This is in no way meant to defend her actions, they're horrible but she probably has no idea she's doing it or no way to understand what she's saying. Again, thank you.
I'm not trying to start an argument here, but I think you give humanity too much credit. Personally, I believe this is just the beginning of some of the stuff we're going to see because the 60's and 70's only happened 40 - 50 years ago. I also think it's only going to get worse because this new fat, pampered generation is going to make things like Columbine look like, well, child's play. :-/ GLOOM AND DOOM
You should go read the Aunt's web-site. The web-site speaks for itself. Seems like a family of racists. The Aunt even fired a housekeeper for her nationality.
The website is clearly a parody like christwire or others. There are too many obvious memes and internet inside jokes to be accidental. Stop. Drop. Think.
Damn - you beat me to the punch.
I hope she was charged and arrested for a crime in connection with her actions in the video. This woman has problems - period.