NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A familiar figure in New York's gay nightlife scene was free on bail Thursday after allegedly chomping off the earlobe of a male model at a chic rooftop club.
James Leahy, 26, who also goes by the name Jane Lane, was arraigned at New York City Criminal Court on two counts of first-degree felony assault "with intent to disfigure another person seriously and permanently" and released on his own recognizance. He faces as much as 25 years in prison if convicted.
Leahy allegedly attacked Ronnie Brown, 25, at a weekly gay party and bit his earlobe off in the process.
"I reached for my ear and it was not there," Brown told the New York Daily News.
The lobe has since been sewn back on but "it looks like a dog mangled it," said Brown, who told the newspaper he fears losing modeling jobs.
Leahy, who works by day as promotions coordinator for AIDS Walk New York, said he was just defending himself, the News said.
Brown said that's a lie. He told the Gawker blog the two men had an altercation, then Leahy threw a glass into Brown's face and then they started fighting.
It was when they were on the floor that Brown saw Leahy "go for my ear where my earring was but (Brown) didn't think twice about it until (Leahy) pulled away with blood in his mouth and someone said my ear was bleeding," Brown said in an e-mail Gawker cited.
Michael Formika-Jones, a friend of both, said: "Right now, everybody has heard Ronnie's side of the story. There are two sides to every story -- even Lorena Bobbitt had her side of the story."
Bobbitt gained worldwide notice in 1993 when she severed the penis of her husband, John Wayne Bobbitt, with a knife. The penis was later surgically reattached.
