Bored Men Allegedly Take Axe To Trees In Inwood Park To Practice "Sportsmanship"

Two men with a passion for the great outdoors were looking to sharpen their axe-handling skills one night earlier this month when they ran afoul of the local constabulary. Police sources tell DNAinfo that Jonathan Li, 29, of Inwood, and Salvatore Chiarelli, 26, of Brooklyn were arrested on March 4th after some skittish city slicker called 911 to report scary axe-wielding men roaming around Isham Park in Inwood. But there was no reason to panic—they were just a couple of good old boys alleviating the enervating boredom of urban living by hacking trees.

According to a criminal complaint, Li told cops he was “bored and ... throwing the ax at the tree for sportsmanship and fun." But come on, how else is Li supposed to make it to the big Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin this summer? Would you prefer he practice his axe skills on the subway? Without the proper training, Li could end up like this guy (35 second mark):

Tree vandalism has been a problem in Inwood and throughout the city in recent years, but at this time investigators don't think Li and Chiarelli are linked to previous incidents in the neighborhood.

Still, the NYPD was not particularly supportive of Li's sportsmanship, and charged him with criminal mischief in the fourth degree, possession of a graffiti tool and making graffiti. Chiarelli faces similar charges, plus an additional charge of criminal possession of a weapon, because cops allegedly found an illegal "gravity knife" on his person. But come on, how else is the poor guy supposed to practice gravity?

Asked about the incident, Geoffrey Croft at NYC Park Advocates tells us, "I'm happy the public was vigilant and called 911. Many people don't know or care about the value of trees. The parks in Inwood have suffered enough without having people running around throwing axes into trees. A gravity knife, an axe and a graffiti tool are certainly not what the public should be carrying around in our parks. I'm glad police made the arrests before the trees suffered even further damage or something worse happened."