Posted on 06/23/2006 8:02:53 PM PDT by Shermy
A short, slow ride through town on a mini motorcycle turned into big trouble for a Lake Crystal man early Saturday morning.
What started as a downtown wipeout turned into a low-speed chase, then ended with a deputy shoving a suspected drunken driver off his minibike.
After a day of hosting customers celebrating Lake Crystal’s Duck Days, a downtown bar was emptying for the night when Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Jeff Wersal received a report of a motorcycle wiping out at the intersection of Prince and Lincoln streets. The driver of the motorcycle, actually a 5-horsepower “Mini Baha” minibike, had gotten up and was driving away when the deputy got to the intersection.
There wasn’t a tail light or license plate on the minibike, so Wersal followed the driver, later identified as 42-year-old Douglas Lee Menne of Lake Crystal, to a parking lot up the street. Menne stopped briefly, until he could get the bike started again and took off out the other side of the lot, Wersal reported.
From there the chase allegedly continued with Menne zipping down Hunt Street at about 25 mph. Wersal was following with his lights flashing and siren blaring. He then pulled up beside Menne and yelled at him to stop. The chase slowed to about 10 mph when Wersal pulled in front of the bike.
When that didn’t work, Wersal said he fired his Taser out his squad window. One dart from the Taser made contact, but fell out. But the effort slowed Menne enough for Wersal to get out of his squad car and shove Menne off the bike. It took help from another deputy to make an arrest, according to the report.
Menne was jailed Saturday morning and released later that night after posting $12,000 bail. Charges of driving while intoxicated and, possibly, fleeing police are pending.
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More importantly, was Menne wearing a helmet and if so what size is it?
When dealing with an individual wearing an adjustable ball cap, count the number of nubs engaged in the locking device carefully. There should be no more than three engaged, or maybe four.
Five or or more, is proof, according to the NASCAR LAbs, that you are dealing with someone sliding rapidly toward the simian on the IQ Scale. If all the nubs are engaged and the extra material forms a little peak over the back of the dude's head, do not continue the attempted conversation. Back away slowly and try and remember where the hell you left that can of mace, or throw a banana on the ground and run.
If the brim is pointed other than straight ahead, consider other defensive options. Also, a kicky new fashion twist that indicates less than optimal cranial resources: wearing the brim of the ball cap sticking straight ahead, but flat, rather than curved artistically downward, as a normal 'Merican would.
If you are in construction or other hazardous enterprise, do not, repeat, DO NOT, insist that the above individuals wear a hard hat. NASCAR Doctors have proven that a knock on the head may do these citizens a world of good. A hard enough knock can even improve the gene pool.
My apologies for suggesting this guy would be wearing a helmet. Duh! Of course it would be an adjustable ball-cap (nylon foam-filled front). However, I'm surprised NASCAR Labs has not updated the "cut and run" defensive maneuver. This is the 21st century and the proper "cut and run" would be to toss spare-ribs dripping in Stubbs BBQ sauce on the ground and then run.
Use live rounds.
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