[MASSBIRD] Fw: My Arrest While Birding
Paul Peterson
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Paul Peterson <peterso...@yahoo.com>
To: bir...@bkpix.com
Sent: Fri, August 27, 2010 12:08:31 PM
Subject: My Arrest While Birding
Hi,
Yes, you have permission. I had the facts somewhat wrong. According to the�
police report, which I've just fairly recently received, Officer Mark Wilson,
the officer who arrested me, was on routine patrol at the time of the incident.
There was no call to the police. When the officer first saw me, I had just
stepped off the marshlands and was looking down the middle of�a residential
street to catch the names off the streets coming off it. The officer said I
looked suspicious. Upon asking me�what I was doing,�I told him I had been
birdwatching. He replied "Oh yeah, there are no birds in winter."� He then asked
me what birds I saw, to which�I told him the following: Rough-legged Hawk, Am.
Kestrels, Peregrine Falcons, Red-tailed Hawks, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, Am.
Tree Sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Mallard Ducks, Am. Black Ducks,
Bufflehead Ducks, Brant, Canada Geese. He then repeated that " There are no
birds in winter." He then said, for a third time, "There are no birds in winter"
after he asked me my name and I told him my name. I� didn't know what to say
after that, so I said, without meaning to be flippant, "try telling that to the
birds". He then became animated and got out of his cruiser. He said he wanted to
frisk me, to which I replied�" Don't you have to have justifiable cause"? �He
then repeated that he wanted to frisk me, and I repeated my answer. He then
pushed me� and stated " I hate to do this", �followed by throwing me onto the
ground. My brand new binoculars were still around my neck at the time. He called
backup, and�when they arrived,�I yelled "Help, Help" because�I thought I was
being attacked by the arresting officer. In the police report, he states that
Sgt. Ricardelli observed us wrestling on the ground, and that Sgt. Ricardelli
assisted him in putting me in handcuffs. (both lies) While I was being booked at
the police station,�Officer Mark Wilson (the arresting officer) cleverly said,
in the presence of the booking officer as well as another officer,"What are you
doing in Saugus?" This was done presumably to make it appear that I hadn't
answered any questions�for him, SINCE THE POLICE REPORT SAID I WAS DEFIANT AND
TOTALLY NON-COOPERATIVE. It(the police report)�even stated that I had pushed him
into the police cruiser! THE CHARGES WERE THE FOLLOWING:RESISTING ARREST,
ASSAULT AND BATTERY ON A POLICE OFFICER, AND DISORDERLY CONDUCT(PEEPING
TOM).�(In the state of Massachusetts, peeping tom is considered disorderly
conduct.)
���I had to wait,�FOR SIX HOURS WITH WET CLOTHES ON�IN A COLD CELL�for my
brother to come with the bail money. (my first two calls to my brother�had gone
unanswered). My clothes were wet from being thrown onto the snow-covered
ground). While I was in the cell, a bald, husky officer banged on the cell door
saying "You assault police officers, you want to try for a piece of me?"
�� My �$2,000 lawyer said I should accept a plea agreement, whereby if I didn't
get arrested in the next six months, the charges against me would be dropped. I
assumed he knew what he was doing, so I went along. Now, I am not sure�I should
have accepted, because now�I cannot sue the Saugus, Ma. Police Dept. for the
psycholgical damage afflicted upon me during my ordeal. I still suffer
psychological damage today. I finally got back my brand new binoculars after
four months.(they were being kept as evidence, of what I don't know!) I actually
had to go the the dreaded police station in person to pick them up. I also had
to make a third trip to the courthouse to pay a court fee of $150.�What�I am
amazed by, is the fact that here in America there are policemen who themselves
have no regard for the law that they are supposed to uphold!