Gates Decision Sets Pie Throwers Free

Belgian police today released a man and a woman who threw a cream pie in Bill Gates’ face, saying Gates declined to press charges.

Meanwhile, the prank’s instigator, who was not caught, said he was thrilled at the sight of the Microsoft Corp. chairman standing on a Brussels sidewalk Wednesday “as if bolted to the ground,” wiping cream off his glasses and face.

Noel Godin is well-known in Belgium as an “entarteur” - someone who throws pies in famous peoples’ faces as a form of harmless disrespect.

“Our secret,” Godin said on Belgian television, “is our number. There are about 30 of us and we operate in very small groups.”

Godin gave the Gates creaming a top rating, saying, “He was completely covered and stood there as if bolted to the ground.”