Posted on 10/23/2012 5:36:52 PM PDT by RummyChick
Romney’s arrest came in June 1981 when he proceeded to launch his motorboat at Wayland’s Lake Cochituate only moments after a park police officer had told him not to launch the craft or face a $50 fine
According to Romney’s version of the events, he had taken his family to the lake for a summer outing. As he was about to launch his boat, a park guard informed him that the license number of the boat had been painted over.
Romney said the guard told him not to put the boat in the water or he would be ticketed and fined $50. Frustrated and feeling that the license was still somewhat visible, Romney defied the order, saying it would be worth his while to be fined $50 to enjoy the day on the lake with his family.
“I figured I was at the state park with my kids. My five kids were in the car wondering why we weren’t going out in the boat, so I said I’d launch and pay the fine.”
The charges were later dropped. According to the Globe:
[t]he charges against Romney were dropped several days later and officially dismissed in February 1982 at Natick District Court….
Romney said … the reason the case was dropped was that he had threatened to charge the officer and his agency, then called the Department of Environmental Affairs, with false arrest.
Why did the Globe have to rely on “Romney’s version of the events,” you might ask? Because,
[a]t Romney’s request, the judge also agreed to seal the records, making them unavailable for public inspection…. The district court has refused a Globe request to unseal the files.
(Excerpt) Read more at bluemassgroup.com ...
Piffft, that’s nothing. I launched a boat yesterday with 1998 tags on it.
Went out for my test drive (failed badly. carbs need overhaul) but when I got back to load up the sheriff was there. He looked at the side of the boat, at me, at the side of the boat and said “so uhh... 1998 huh?” “yup! sorry, just testing it out to see if it’s worth fixing”..
Ok. Well the next time I see it on the water it better have the proper sticker on it.
Guess I can’t run for president either huh?
I actually like fixing up vintage boats and other stuff and do, but it ticks me off that you can be stopped by the sheriff’s boat at midday, find out a bulb is loose in the socket and get a $125 fine. No, I didn’t get a citation but probably will some day. Just a revenue generator and “small-minded petty-tyrannical law” as was stated up thread.
I mysteriously had a pilot jet clog the other day although fuel was tested no-ethanol, had Stabil in it anyway, and was only four months old. A whiteish material. Oddly the fuel bowl was perfectly clean. (This was on a motorcycle).
You were lucky on the sticker. Here you’d get some kind of habitual offender citation as though you’d be using the craft all along. Have to fight it in court.
OMG!!!! First it’s boat licenses and $50 fines and the next thing you know it leads to mass murder or something or other.
That settles it. I”m voting for Eleanor Roosevelt!
Remember, Mitt can't give his version of the story without violating clergy-congregant confidentiality, which he won't do.
Allred can bring the case to court even if it is later thrown out as without merit. The object is not to actually win the case, but to throw enough doubt in some voter's minds to change the outcome of an election.
Remember the baseless 11th hour charges which were brought against Alaska Senator Ted Stevens just long enough to elect the 60th vote for ObamaCare?
Might have helped that he did a life jacket check on my other boat a few days back.
This boat was a ebay buy. 300 bucks. 70 HP rude on the back. some fiddling with the carbs and some new plywood for the floor and the old Chrysler will be ship shape in time for spring.
I like to buy boats in the fall. My wife hates it but.. I’ll sell um as soon as the ice melts. Boat season starts when the ice is gone and if it’s not sold by the 4th I’ll be stuck with it till spring.
I just bought a 1978 19ft with a chev 350/merc IO unit. Final bid, 60 bucks.
Nice looking boat too. I might just launch that with expired stickers too. Depends on how much I want to test my luck.
I agree 100%. It is not about the case, but doing enough to damage Romney. Now if Allred and the Globe would just investigate Obama and go to court to get his records unsealed..... oh well....
Sounds like a legitimate ‘threat’ to me. — if we all could do it, we should, rather than be intimidated by a mistake making official.
What I wish he would have done is to tell the guy fine, I won’t put the boat in the water, but you go tell those five kids in the car why you won’t let me put the boat in the water. Kids have a way of changing people’s minds, particularly when there is more than one of them.
The 2012 Obama platform - they've got it all!
He got a $50 ticket from the possum cop? Thirty years ago. Whoa. Stop the presses.
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