Singer Jody Chiang files suit against man who assaulted her brother

Popular singer Jody Chiang (??) has filed a lawsuit against a man who allegedly attacked her brother with a steel pipe and took her hostage briefly Sunday, for burglary, assault and trespass, police said Thursday.

The suspect, identified by police as Chen Chin-piao (???), 58, worked as a cleaner at the housing complex in which Jody and her brother live for about two months after he was released on parole this August after serving part of a 12-year prison term for robbery.

On Dec. 18, Chen went to the apartment of Jody's brother, 50, who is mentally disabled due to a high fever he suffered as a child, and used the pipe to assault both him and the foreign caregiver who is responsible for taking care of him.

Jody posted on her Facebook page Thursday to express appreciation to the police for their efforts in apprehending the suspect.

Jody, who lived downstairs from her brother, said that when she heard her brother wailing, she dashed to his apartment.

She said that she saw her brother, with blood all over his face, and shrieking in panic, a picture that has stuck in her mind.

"How could he do such a terrible thing to my darling brother, who is just a mentally impaired old child?" she said.

Jody's agent said Jody suffered cuts to her hand when she stood up to the suspect.

Police said that Jody had requested that the fact she received an injury should be withheld when they held a news conference a day earlier to announce the arrest of the suspect.

Jody, 55, is nicknamed "Second Sister," because she is the second-oldest of four siblings. Her trademark ballads and folk songs are typically sung in Taiwanese. She has released 60 albums and has won eight Golden Melody Awards -- the Taiwanese equivalent of the Grammies -- over her career.

She gave several farewell concerts between July and September last year.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel