STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The homeless Tottenville man who fatally bludgeoned a peacock that he claimed was a vampire is a diagnosed schizophrenic who was treated at South Beach Psychiatric Center last fall, his mother said yesterday.
John N. Potts, 32, was arrested Sunday night after an altercation with his stepfather outside the older man's Surfside Plaza home, during which Potts allegedly brandished a shovel. He then ran down Sprague Avenue and jumped into the Raritan Bay, shovel in hand, after saying he had bubonic plague.
According to a law enforcement source, Potts told cops, "I don't see what the big [expletive] deal is about this bird. It had negative energy. It came out of the darkness, so I kicked it."
"He should be staying on his medications, I beg him," said Potts' mother, who has a different surname and spoke on condition of anonymity. "Last time he was killing demons in the woods. I guess this time he was killing vampires."
Potts eluded police Thursday morning after he repeatedly kicked the peacock and beat it with a baseball bat before grabbing the bird by its head and slinging it to the ground in the parking lot of the Burger King on Amboy Road at Page Avenue in Tottenville. The bird was fatally injured and had to be put down.
Potts' arraignment was postponed yesterday and he was taken to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for psychiatric evaluation, said William J. Smith, a spokesman for District Attorney Daniel Donovan. A new court date has not been set.
Potts' mother -- who said her son is an animal lover and perfectly amiable when he's medicated -- said he showed up at her house Sunday night and "barged in." She said the argument began when Potts was confronted by his stepfather.
Two days before, Potts was arrested for trespassing after entering another Surfside property. He spent the night in jail and was released Saturday after a court appearance. And Sunday morning, cops issued him a summons after catching him with marijuana.
Potts faces one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty for the peacock incident; one count of menacing and one count of criminal possession of a weapon for the altercation with his stepfather, and one count of criminal trespass and one count of criminal mischief for the break-in -- all misdemeanor counts. If convicted, he faces a maximum of three years in prison, Smith said.
"It's such a strain on my family," Potts' mother said, adding that her son -- who shelters in woods off Page Avenue -- occasionally stops by to eat, do laundry and shower. "It's very hard for me to see my son just deteriorate like this. I still love him."
What happened to the peacock was "tragic," she said, but "At least it wasn't a person. Now he can get the help that he needs."
John Petersen of Brighton Street, Tottenville, raised two adult peacocks and four peacock chicks on his property until they wandered off about a year ago. He thinks the peacock that was killed -- a male with full, colorful plumage -- could have been one of them.
