Abortion Activist Loses Fingers Dropping Leaflets From Ultralight

A bizarre leaflet-drop in Whittier (CA) left a man without two fingers on one hand, as well as a busted up aircraft.

Police say Michael Grumbine was flying a Paralite Sky Cruiser very low over the campus of La Serna High School. Students looked up, wondering if there was a problem, when they saw hundreds of brightly-colored leaflets drop from the aircraft.

The Matrix?

The aerial drop appeared to have coincided with an anti-abortion protest just off of school grounds, police told the Whittier Daily News. The leaflets read, in part, "You are in the Matrix. Truth is evil. Abortion is good. There are people in front of school with signs and pictures right now that you must not look at. They will show you things you must not see. You must not talk to them."

Police say one of the leaflets apparently got stuck fluttering in the netting between the pilot and the prop, Grumbine reached back with his right hand to retrieve it. Oops. That's when he lost his middle and index fingers to the propeller.

Witnesses, including a Whittier Police Officer, say the ultralight appeared to falter in the air. Seconds later, it crashed near the high school's freshman baseball fields. No one else was injured when the Paralite Sky Cruiser (file photo, below) struck the ground.

The Motive?

La Serna principal Leo Camalich said Grumbine appeared to be affiliated with the anti-abortion protestors outside. "By dropping those leaflets that said students shouldn't go out to see the protest, he was basically telling the kids to go check it out in a reverse-psychology way," Camalich said. "That's my intuition, at least."

One of Grumbine's fingers was recovered by search teams after the incident. Grumbine was rushed to UCI Medical Center. His condition hasn't been released.

Principal: There Oughtta Be A Law

Camalich said Grumbine, recognized by students as a former La Serna student's father, will probably face some sort of charges for flying so low over the high school while class was in session. "I have to believe that there must have been some sort of law broken,' he said. "A flying object should not be allowed to fly at such a low altitude over a school while it's in session. There has to be a law against that."

FMI: http://www2.faa.gov