A man who attacked a reporter and a photographer employed by WWL-TV has been sentenced to a suspended jail sentence and to probation.
According to a report by the television station, Bruce Verdin swung a wrench at investigative reporter David Hammer and photojournalist TJ Pipitone after they went to the Tangipahoa Parish home of convicted sex offender Brian Matherne, who had been mistakenly released early from a prison sentence. The report also says Verdin tried to run over Pipitone with his truck.
On Monday, Verdin pleaded no contest to three felony aggravated battery counts and one count of aggravated damage to property.
Verdin was sentenced to concurrent suspended jail sentences of three years and two years. Verdin also received two years of probation.
Hammer said he initially wanted the attention to be on the story they were covering and not on the attack. However, he says the recent shooting death of a reporter in Orlando, Florida, prompted him to tell the story of that attack.
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