With all DUE respect=none
Posted on 08/09/2005 6:26:45 PM PDT by RandallFlagg
DENVER - Denver police say a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force has admitted to vandalizing cars bearing pro-President Bush bumper stickers at Denver International Airport.
Police say he's responsible for thousands of dollars in damage on at least 12 cars. Lt. Colonel Alexis Fecteau, 42, of Colorado Springs, turned himself in to Denver police Friday.
He is director of reserve operations at the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, in charge of more than 40 full-time and traditional reservists.
In the arrest affidavit, Denver police say Fecteau admitted to damaging several cars after police conducted a sting-operation to catch the anti-Bush vandal.
"It was pretty good police work," said Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson. He said his department took this case very seriously. "You still have a right to express yourself in this country and you shouldn't have your car vandalized because of it."
Jackson said one of the detectives put out a bait car in late June, complete with a Bush/Cheney 2004 bumper sticker, in the west economy lot at DIA. On July 1st, with a security camera zoomed in to watch, an SUV drove by the bait car, and a short time later a man entered the scene. The man in the video appeared to spray paint something on the back of the car and then continued to do something on the side of the car.
When officers returned to the bait car, the bumper sticker had been painted over and the words "F--- Bush" were spray-painted on the side of the car.
Police used airport exit logs to trace the license plate of the SUV believed to be seen in the bait car surveillance video to Fecteau.
When Fecteau's SUV was spotted parked in the DIA lot on a subsequent visit, police impounded it. When Fecteau approached police about the whereabouts of his SUV, a DPD detective confronted him. Court records show that at that time, Fecteau admitted to the DIA vandalism and said he started damaging vehicles around "election time" last year.
The affidavit shows Fecteau told investigators he didn't mean the graffiti to be a threat against President Bush. He went on to admit he has scratched the same kind of graffiti into "a couple of cars" with his "keys and key holder."
Inside Fecteau's 2001 Ford Excursion, police found a bin full of products, including a tube of Park Tube Polylube, a grease used for bicycle repairs, a spray can of Kleen Strip Auto Strip paint thinner, and Krylon Textured Shimmer paint.
Fecteau faces one count of felony criminal mischief and at least five other misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief. Fecteau has posted a $5,000 bond and is due back in court later this month.
Air Force spokesperson Major Barbara Matthew told 9News in a phone interview Monday the service hasn't taken action against Fecteau in regards to the vandalism. Instead, Matthew said, the Air Force plans to allow due process through local law enforcement. Calls to Fecteau's work and home were not returned.
One of the vandalized cars belongs to Jeremy Kinney, owner of Kinney Oil Co. of Denver. Kinney is a long-time friend of President George W. Bush. The two attended Yale together in the 1960s and have remained friends ever since.
"You feel violated in a sense when something like this happens, but it was more disappointment than anger," said Kinney, who worked on both of George W. Bush's presidential campaigns.
Kinney had a "Bush for President" bumper sticker stuck on a tool-box located on his 1992 Ford truck. When he returned from a flight on June 19, he noticed the bumper sticker had been painted over and the words "F--- Bush" were painted on the side of the car.
It cost Kinney more than $250 to fix the damage. But, he said, there is a larger price to pay for this kind of vandalism.
"It just reinforced to me the lack of political discourse that takes place in this country, polite political discourse," Kinney said.
"There is so much anger in politics that I find it not only counter-productive but annoying and disappointing."
I see by your home page that you are in the Austin area. Do you still have that arsehole Ronnie Earle as county prosecutor. I remember him most for going on that fishing trip against Sen. Hutchison at the behest of Ma Richards. Many county deputies also don't like Earle, even though at least for a while the Travis County Sheriff was a lesbo.
Got the same problem here in Minneapolis with moonbats defacing vehicles.
USMJ s/b UCMJ...
How this individual managed to get promoted with what had to have been such obvious defects in character is mind-boggling. There had to have been clues. Nobody excels at the type of leadership that it takes to be promoted to O5 while vandalizing cars on the down-low.
Alexis Fecteau, perhaps a little too close to his French roots.
Yes, Ronnie Earle's been trying to get at Tom Delay by proxy, and going after Republican business campaign groups.
Can't seem to get rid of him.
It's a male (poor excuse for one). Go to the article link, there's a mug shot.
Actually, if he was on active duty at the time, the Air Force can still hammer him under the UCMJ for the very same crimes the civilian authorities will prosecute him for.
What about "Double Jeopardy"?
It doesn't apply. The state civilian authorities and the military authorities are legally considered as "different sovereigns".
Don't ask me to explain the fine legal points of the "different sovereigns" doctrine. That is what the Navy taught us at the Military Law class at OIS and I never considered it wise to find out from personal experience if it was untrue.
True, they just feel...this idiot felt angry when he saw a Bush bumper sticker, and he felt better when he f'ed up the car.
I'm going to feel pretty good when his retirement is stripped and he's out of our fine Military on his criminal @$$.
I have to admit, I had a blast with a stack of GWB bumper stickers in my car last election season. I covered up dozens of Kerry stickers with mine. I got this one car at a bus stop almost every day for a week until the owner stopped parking there.
I was purposely not destructive, but I can imagine the steam coming out of many DUmmie ears when other DUmmies asked them when they switched sides.
Throw away the key...
With all DUE respect=none
Now *that's* funny.
That was more of a clean-up job. You should have charged 'em.
No way! This guy probably came in around 1978-80 or so, way before Clinton. LtCol is typically (a) the final resting place of the dregs, or (b)the pinnacle of an AF Officer's career. Lots of good officers end up LtCol to finish out their career through no fault of their own. Remember Ike at the beginning of WWII? I read somewhere that the officers that win wars were LtCol when hostilities began. They have the breadth of experience to take charge and lead. Some of the best I met in my 22 year career were LtCol's. Some of the worst were also.
The good ones were always refered to as Colonel. The bummers were privately called "Telephone Colonel".
It has not. Almost every time I parked, the magnetic signs came off. I did get flipped off many times and had a lot of thumbs up.
I was right. It's the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" thing.
Forgot to add my prediction. Mild letter of reprimand in his file, allowed to retire at his high year of tenure (28 years).
Is this what passes for an officer and a gentleman nowadays in the Air Force? If the USAF doesn't plan any further action in this matter, it's time for a couple of congressmen and senators to get involved.
When they flip you off, you should smile real big--like you don't understand, and you think they LIKE you. That'll piss 'em off!
:-D
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