Friday, 13 September 2024

Desperate Measures Usually Fail

As a man who has been caught speeding once myself (by a mobile speed camera ... curses!!) ......

Joseph Talbot of Wayne County
Not Worth Hiding?

I have some (not much, but some), sympathy with Joseph Talbot of Wayne County New York.

In December 2016 he had been arrested for drunk driving (DUI) after State Police received a report of a driver swerving on Route 31 in Palmyra NY. The state trooper found the vehicle, swerving over the centre line and onto the hard shoulder of the road, where it was finally bought to a halt.

He refused a roadside pre-screen breath test, and when they got to the police station Mr Talbot also refused to give a station breath test to determine his blood alcohol level. He called the trooper an 'asshole', and he refused to have his fingerprints taken, and resisted having a mug shot taken, as it would be in that “rag” (The Wayne County Times). He was a bank Vice President in Palmyra and complained that the state trooper, and the paper would ruin his family.

Following Mr Talbot’s refusal to be processed, he was additionally charged with misdemeanour Obstruction of Governmental Administration in the 2nd Degree, along with the DUI and traffic violations. Talbot was arraigned and remanded to jail (where he had no right to refuse being processed), on $750 cash/$1500 bond, to reappear in Palmyra Town Court on February 1st. He was also issued an appearance ticket for Lyons Town Court on the Obstruction charge.

However, the 12,000-circulation Times of Wayne County, obtained a mugshot from the county jail, and printed it along with a story on the following Saturday.

Talbot then followed the local delivery van on Saturday morning, and bought up around 900 newspapers in the Newark area, at $1.25 per copy. The cunning ploy failed, the paper restocked all the Newark News stands, and the story went viral after being picked up by US and International news media (mainly because of the paper buying exploit) .... Mr Talbot refused to give any one a comment (especially that "Rag", the Wayne County Times).

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