Sentenced: Man Punched Rosa Parks In 1994, Accused Of Similar Crime In Grand Rapids

[Sugar Cookie]

A man who robbed civil-rights icon Rosa Parks in a 1994 break-in at her Detroit home is accused of a similar crime in Grand Rapids.

Joseph Nathaniel Skipper, 54, is accused of robbing a 74-year-old Grand Rapids woman in her home on New Year’s Day.

He was sentenced in 1995 to eight to 15 years in prison for breaking into Parks’ home, hitting her in the face and robbing her of $53.

Skipper is held in the Kent County Jail in multiple cases, with bond totaling $65,000. He is charged with first-, second- and third-degree home invasion and two counts of breaking and entering a building.

The 74-year-old Grand Rapids woman, who lives on the city’s Northwest Side, called 911 at 12:10 a.m. Jan. 1 to report that a man had just broken in and robbed her.

She told police she was in bed when she heard someone forcing their way into her home. She confronted the man, who assaulted her and demanded money, Grand Rapids police said.

She told investigators she gave the man “’just under $50’” before he left, Sgt. John Wittkowski said.

The victim told police that the robber injured himself breaking a window to get into her home. Police found blood on the window.

At the time of the break-in and robbery, detectives were investigating several other break-ins and began to tie those cases to the woman’s robbery. Police said that Skipper was questioned and admitted to some of the crimes but he would not confess to the crime involving the 74-year-old.

Skipper blamed a drug problem for robbing the then-82-year-old Parks in 1994.

In a prison interview with The Detroit News, he said he wished he had apologized to Parks before she died.

“I will go down in history as the man who robbed Rosa Parks,” he told the Detroit News, according to The New York Times.

“I'm sorry that she died. I was hoping to get out in time to tell her I was sorry.”

He had just gotten out of prison when he tried to steal jewelry from a Livonia church’s rectory in August 2009. He climbed through a bedroom window after he asked church staff for money earlier in the day, police said.

Skipper was sentenced in late 2009 to five to 10 years in prison for breaking and entering. He was discharged in August 2019, Michigan Department of Corrections records show.

Man who attacked Rosa Parks accused of similar crime in Grand Rapids

Joseph Nathaniel Skipper, 54, is facing multiple burglary charges in Kent County.

www.mlive.com

 

[Sevens My Charm]

Give him a 25 cent bullet to the noggin to put him to rest from pain, desperation and hurting others because of addiction. He had plenty of time in those years to be clean get into NA actively, maybe worked steps, get help.. if you repeat the cycle over and over with live victims sooner or later someone is going to turn up dead ..

 

[Sejanus]

Hey, Numbnuts.
A way to apologize would have been never referencing.
Go to hell..here lets help him.
Firing squad assemble!

 

[Blizzard]

“I'm sorry that she died. I was hoping to get out in time to tell her I was sorry.”

Well, at least before coronavirus fucked everything up, we used to have this thing called mail. ...

 

[Old Man Metal]

Man, how you gonna punch Rosa Parks? Who does he think he is, George Wallace?

 

[Craygor]

Man, how you gonna punch Rosa Parks? Who does he think he is, George Wallace?

 

[Old Man Metal]

True story: I went to elementary school with some of George Wallace's grandkids (his daughter's kids). They were exactly the kind of upper-crust pussies you'd expect.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Joseph N. Skipper is returning to prison for attacking a Grand Rapids woman during a New Year’s Day break-in.

Skipper, 54, said he was entering homes in Grand Rapids because he had housing issues. During sentencing, he mentioned the Rosa Parks assault.

Judge George J. Quist sentenced Skipper to between 10-25 years for two home invasions, including one in which a 74-year-old woman was assaulted.

Man who attacked Rosa Parks in 1994 returns to prison for Grand Rapids crimes

Joseph N. Skipper was arrested for breaking into homes in Grand Rapids, including one in which a 74-year-old woman was assaulted for $50.

www.wzzm13.com