Posted on 03/19/2009 4:06:12 PM PDT by iowamark
DES MOINES - A Cedar Rapids man, apparently at the State Capitol Thursday with a union group, was arrested after a lobbyist caught him trying to steal women's wallets.
Marshall Clemons, 38, of Cedar Rapids, was arrested by the Iowa State Patrol and charged with two counts of fifth-degree theft.
Lt. Mark Logsdon of the Iowa State Patrol's Post 16 said lobbyist Jim Henter spied Clemons reaching into a woman's bag and retrieving a billfold.
Henter followed Clemons and stopped him, Logsdon said. Clemons gave the woman back the money that was in the billfold and then went to a recycling bin and pulled out the billfold he had discarded there, according to Logsdon.
Clemons then went to the men's restroom where he tried to flush away another woman's billfold, Logsdon said.
Both billfolds and their contents were recovered.
Such cases at the Capitol are rare even though lobbyists' belongings and displays from various groups are out in the open, Logsdon said.
"We're really pretty lucky. We have a good presence in there. We have troopers that are posted in the Capitol" as well as security officers that man the metal detectors, Logsdon said.
Logsdon said he was told that Clemons was a part of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.
"I think he did come down with a group of folks from Cedar Rapids," Logsdon said.
The union's Web site lists Clemons as a member of Local 199 and a custodian at a Cedar Rapids school. An announcement in August said Clemons would join now-Vice President Joe Biden and his family to watch the Democratic National Convention.
Biden also joined Clemons on the union's "Walk a Day in My Shoes" campaign, where the two repaired a boiler, swept floors and replaced air conditioning filters on school grounds.
drop your wallet Chuck?
LOL!! Union THUG can’t wait til the Dems pass new taxes....had to steal the wallets ASAP! TYPICAL DEM>
Well, well...it seems birds of a feather flock together, as O-B network is stealing money from our wallets too.
Was he standing around?
It figures, pickpockets and thieves tend to hang together. Maybe Biden will “bail” him out.
This thief was at the Iowa State Capitol trying to steal more of taxpayers’ money. All RATS think they’re entitled to other people’s money.
Pickpocket. Senator. What’s the difference?
He is now qualified to be in the Obama administration. Congratulations Marshall!
LOL!!
For your viewing enjoyment,
His buddy Biden and his cohorts pick our pockets every day.
Awww... he was just practicing freelance socialism.
This is what made unions worse than worthless, thugs who think they are entitled to other people’s property. If it wasn’t for sealed cargo containers and other anti-theft tools, store shelves would be empty because everything would keep “falling off of the truck” on the way ot being delivered.
Hell why not, everybody else in the building was doing it.
They should have made him stick his hand down there and retrieve it.
The lobbyist is a hero.
Not sure I'd want that partially flushed wallet back, though. At least not until Marshall had licked it clean for me.
Swell, how many more did they recruit?
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