Man Kills Self During Contest

FULL STORY: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/12661569.htm

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Man kills self during contest

LONGVIEW - A participant in a "Hands on a Hardbody" contest at an auto dealership left the event during a break early Thursday, broke into a store, found a shotgun and killed himself, police said.

The contest, the subject of a documentary filmed in 1995, requires participants to lay one hand flat on a truck for hours. Whoever holds out the longest drives the truck home.

I don't get it... it says the person who keeps their hand on the truck the longest wins.... yet this guy left for a break? what kinda wussy rules are those? :waitasec:

Hand a thons were very popular abt 20 yrs ago. I don't recall hearing about them too much any more. I didn't want to register for that so I didn't get to read the whole article. Did he kill himself because he lost?

Beyond Belief said:

Hand a thons were very popular abt 20 yrs ago. I don't recall hearing about them too much any more. I didn't want to register for that so I didn't get to read the whole article. Did he kill himself because he lost?

Click to expand...

No, he probably killed himself because he felt he couldn't win, at this or probably anything else...sad..mpi

The http://www.bugmenot.com site should give you a password to get right in.

It's a short article.... basically says that he had been in the contest for 48 hours when a break was called - says there was no dispute during the contest - and he had not been disqualified. The contest was canceled. A cousin of his wife said that he had no reason to do it...

Beyond Belief said:

Hand a thons were very popular abt 20 yrs ago. I don't recall hearing about them too much any more. I didn't want to register for that so I didn't get to read the whole article. Did he kill himself because he lost?

Click to expand...

Full text: http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/12655126.htm

A few more details in this article:

LONGVIEW _ A participant in an East Texas contest popularized in a 1998 documentary film left the event early Thursday, broke into a nearby store, retrieved a shotgun and killed himself, police said.

Richard Vega, 24, of Tyler left the "Hands on a Hardbody" contest at Patterson Nissan around 6 a.m., about the time that a break was called, said police Sgt. Carlos Samples. The rules of the contest require participants to lay one hand flat on a truck at all times. The contestant who holds out longest drives the truck home.

Vega crossed the street to a Kmart, broke the glass in the front door, climbed through, then went to the sporting goods department and took a 12-gauge shotgun, police said. Officers called to the scene were coming in the front of the store as Vega approached from the back.

Vega was ordered to drop the weapon, Samples said.

"He took a few steps back and actually fired the gun at himself and killed himself," Samples said.

The officer said police don't know why Vega committed suicide. Samples said he was unaware of any prior dispute or altercation at the contest, which was canceled.

Vega was not disqualified when he left the contest, said Steve Burnette, who was providing security for the auto dealership.