LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - Charles Gibson nearly fainted when he looked down and realized his barber had bitten off his thumb because he had backed out of a $5 haircut.
"There was nothing there," he said through tears Tuesday. "He just literally chewed it off."
"I told him, "Look what you've done! Look what you've done!' Then he spit it out and ran away."
Doctors were unable to reattach Gibson's right thumb.
Charles Smith, 30, who gave haircuts to people in their homes, was charged with aggravated battery shortly after the encounter Sunday night. He remained jailed Tuesday in lieu of $5,000 bond.
It all began, Gibson said, because he changed his mind about the haircut.
"I looked into his eyes. He didn't look normal," said Gibson, 47, an unemployed nursing home chef. "He looked all hyped up like he was high. I told him, "That's OK, I'll get my hair cut by somebody else.' That's when he revolted."
Gibson said Smith grabbed a straight razor from his barber kit and demanded the $5. Gibson said he refused, and the two began fighting.
"I grabbed him to keep (him) from cutting me," Gibson said. "When he bit down on me, all I was thinking about was that razor. If I didn't hold him, he would put three or four slices in my face."
"It was painful to get bit, but it was either that or get cut by a razor," he said. "Which would be worse?"
