Posted on 08/27/2007 2:14:41 PM PDT by Shermy
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon.
Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.
Craig was detained for approximately 45 minutes, interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted and released, and police prepared a formal complaint for interference with privacy and disorderly conduct.
According to the incident report, Sgt. Dave Karsnia was working as a plainclothes officer on June 11 investigating civilian complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s public restroom in which Craig was arrested.
Airport police previously had made numerous arrests in the men’s restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal in connection with sexual activity.
Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see “an older white male with grey hair standing outside my stall.”
The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig.
“I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes,” the report states.
Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door.
“My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,” Karsnia stated in his report. “From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me.”
Craig was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes.
“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.
Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could ... see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”
Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.
“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”
In a recorded interview after his arrest, Craig “either disagreed with me or ‘didn’t recall’ the events as they happened,” the report states.
Craig stated “that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine,” the report states. Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor.
“It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper,” the arresting officer said in the report.
On Aug. 8, the day he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the Minnesota court, Craig appeared via satellite at a ceremony that took place in Idaho in which former Idaho federal Judge Randy Smith was invested into his new position as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In October 2006, Craig’s office publicly denied allegations that he was a homosexual made on a gay activist Web site — blogactive.com. Craig’s office told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that the charge was “completely ridiculous,” saying that the allegations had “no basis in fact.”
Steven T. Dennis contributed to this report.
I Cudna just let that scroll by without comment.
I think the thread was down because, 1. these are serious charges and 2. the link was clogged so couldn’t be verified.
Reasonable actions, and I’m flattered someone thinks I could be so creative to have made this all up!
I got the story off a hint at another blog. I think afterwards Drudge put it up and crashed the web site.
“Is there a quid-pro-quo going on here?”
More likely the Craig people planted the story with the capital source when there was bigger news.
Report: Sen. Larry Craig arrested in June on suspicion of “lewd conduct” in public restroom
Sad to hear this about Sen Craig. Another GOP Senator bites the dust. Retire now Senator and let the Governor appoint a temporary replacement asap.
For example, is it that surprising he left his booth without flushing after a cop flashed his ID and told him to leave? I mean, the crime was not flushing or not going to the bathroom prior to arrest?
I for one would be pretty upset if I found myself arrested and convicted for this series of non-events. Shouldn't they have waited until he plainly solicited sex? The cop seems to be saying the investigation was cut short because other people wanted to use the bathroom???? lol.
I sometimes wonder if Craig and Stevens are paid with earmarks by the Rodents to act foolishly.
Sure betty. A true Christian would never think that someone could be blackmailed. /sarcasm
Good Riddance.
If the vice squad was gonna nail a GOP pansy in the men's room, then why oh why oh why [dear God] could it not have been Lindsey Graham?
Or Arlen Specter.
There truly is no justice in this life.
Un-flatter yourself.
:)
I did a google news search and saw the link you provided. I also see other bloggers reporting this. I also am lead to believe this is hitting the CBSMSNBCABCFOX news stations as I type this...
But I can’t believe this was hush-hused since last June!
Kudos to the mods for dropping this thread whilst they did due-diligence!
I still hope this is a nastry rumore, but -— sigh—— this sh!t happens.
It sounds like the wrong things made him "solid."
Don't worry, it will be soon!
Given that the arrest took months to come out in the press, I suspect he was hoping that the incident would pass without being noticed. Quietly pleading guilty to a misdemeanor was probably his best chance of escaping notice.
In any case, I doubt he would have been arrested and charged if there was serious doubt as to intent of his actions. While all this hand waving and foot tapping may be unfamiliar to most, I find it hard to believe that a judge would accept such evidence if they weren't well known by law enforcement as signals used by people who engage in such acts.
It’s astounding, the trash we continue to send to represent us...
Inez you cudn’t.
There are no non-stop flights from DC to Idaho. They all require a change in planes, most commonly at SLC, DEN or MSP.
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