Don't Pay Ms. OC Escort and Meet Mr. Tire Iron

Powell: Mr. Tire Iron

​A 61-year-old Orange County man found a female escort online, agreed to pay her $350 rate, but wasn't satisfied when the woman, just "Nikki"--according to court records, arrived at his motel room. Expecting sex, an excited Horny Man stripped and jumped in bed. The escort jumped into bed too, but she refused to take off her bra and underwear.

"This is it!" Nikki announced. The $350 was only for "companionship," she said. Sex would cost extra.

You can imagine Horny Man's frustration. He demanded back his envelope stuffed with cash. But Nikki was no fool. She'd already hidden the money in the bathroom.

With arrangements for this illicit rendezvous stalled, Nikki called her, uh, pal Robert Ryan Powell, who arrived, retrieved the cash, shoved the envelope in his pants and attempted to flee. When Horny Man grabbed for the envelope, Powell repeatedly struck him in the face, head, chest and groin with a tire iron.

Cops eventually arrested Powell. The Orange County District Attorney's office prosecuted him; a jury convicted him and Superior Court Judge David A. Thompson sentenced him to a six-year prison term--three years for the assault and an additional three years for causing great bodily injury. Powell accepted the assault conviction but appealed the case by claiming that he absolutely had not caused serious injury.

This week, a Santa Ana-based California Court of Appeal finished its review of Powell's argument. A three-justice panel reviewed gory photographs and noted Horny Man's injuries: cuts and bruises to his groin, genitals, torso, arms, head and face. An ear, which suffered a ruptured drum, had to be stitched back together. Doctors need a whopping 87 stitches and staples to close head gashes.

Powell, 28, called the wounds "moderate."

The justices weren't amused, noting that they might have agreed with Powell if Horny Man--who received immunity for testifying--had been a professional boxer who'd endured the injuries in the ring. They said the abuse was great bodily injury and they affirmed both of Powell's convictions.

--R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly