The Staten Island man accused of beating a peacock so severely that it had to be euthanized was arraigned this afternoon in Stapleton Criminal Court and is being held on $2,500 bail.
His lawyer, a public defender, did not ask the judge for a psychological examination to determine if he is fit to stand trial, William J. Smith, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan said.
John N. Potts, 32, is facing one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty after police allege that he savagely attacked the peacock -- which he believed was a vampire -- in a Tottenville fast-food restaurant parking lot last week.
Potts is also facing misdemeanor counts of menacing, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief following an alleged run-in with his stepfather over the weekend in which he threatened his stepfather while brandishing a shovel outside his house. Following the incident he ran down Sprague Avenue and jumped into the Raritain Bay -- with the shovel -- after saying that he had bubonic plague.
It was not immediately known if Potts was remanded to Rikers Island or Bellevue Hospital.
He is due back in court on Friday.
--Contributed by John Annese
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