Crowd on hand to see Scott Petersen's arrival at jail

Modesto Bee | April 20, 2003 | Daryl Farnsworth

[tessalu]

An agitated throng of people, several with young children, converged on downtown Modesto on Friday night to see detectives deliver Scott Peterson to the jail. Kelly Huston, spokesman for the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department, said the magnitude of the crowd was a surprise.

"We were considering doing a last-minute booking change," Huston said. "Our No. 1 goal was to make sure he was booked safely, and that included that he didn't get lynched when he came in the driveway. There were people out there screaming, 'Murderer.'"

Officers arrested Peterson, 30, in San Diego County on Friday morning on murder charges in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and their unborn son.

Detectives returned Peterson to Modesto in a two-car caravan.

Minutes before Peterson's arrival, about a dozen uniformed police officers started moving people back to make room for the detectives' cars to get down the driveway to the back door of the jail.

Officers said they had never seen so many people turn out to witness a suspect being escorted into the jail.

The officers had blocked off 12th Street between H and I streets and had parked their patrol cars in the street to make a lane for the detectives to get to the jail driveway.

As the cars approached, the crowd broke out into cheers and applause. Some people held up homemade signs; one read simply, "Murderer." Others aimed their cameras at the car to get a picture of the murder suspect.

Peterson, wearing a white polo shirt and tan shorts, was seated in the back seat of the car behind the driver, Detective Jon Bueh-ler. Detective Craig Grogan, the lead investigator in the homicide case, sat next to Peterson.

Peterson showed no response to the cheers and within seconds was out of sight.

"We're here tonight in support of Laci and her baby and her family," one woman said. "We've been waiting a long time for the cops to arrest Scott, and we just wanted to be here when they brought him in. Tonight is a piece of history."

[tessalu]

It has been reported that Scott had $10,000 on him and his brother's drivers license when he was arrested.

[annyokie]

True. Shades of OJ.

[Cobra64]

And... Is anyone supposed to care unless we're trying to compare this to the OJ Simpson saga. People are arrested every day, and unfortunately, people are murdered by their spouses... There was a woman murdered in Charlotte, NC last month. Where's the media? Sheesh. Selective reporting on tragedies makes no sense.

[annyokie]

Now, now. How many pregnant elementary schoolteachers are murdered on Christmas Eve by their philandering husbands who then act first woeful and then cavalier?

This is worse than OJ, IMHO.

[BunnySlippers]

This will be turned into a blot on the police department ... along with their leaving the blinds open so that the media could film Scott being booked.

[tessalu]

You are nobody until somebody loves you. Laci was loved, and she is somebody.

[BunnySlippers]

The bad thing about OJ is not just that he murdered two people, but that there was such a huge miscarriage of justice. Any murderer should be convicted.

[george wythe]

Peterson showed no response to the cheers

More like jeers and cries of "Baby Killer!"

Have a nice stay inside a cement box the rest of your pitiful life.

[isthisnickcool]

It has been reported that Scott had $10,000 on him and his brother's drivers license when he was arrested.

The "new" Scott with blonde hair.

[savedbygrace]

OJ is so last century. We need a Trial of the Century for THIS century. ;-)

[annyokie]

I agree. OJ will get his in time. An NFL quarterback told me, "I know OJ and he f*ing did it."

The truth will out.

[annyokie]

I fear we are going to get one. I hatefully thought that Scott might take himself out before things went this far.

[Az Joe]

And it may be reported later that he didn't have $10,000 or his brother's ID on him.

[annyokie]

It may be reported but it is true, my reliable sources say.

[clintonh8r]

We need a Trial of the Century for THIS century.

Heck, some here seem to think we should just skip the trial altogether.

[tessalu]

Many people in Modesto have spent a lot of time searching for Laci, and there are going to be some very hard feelings, if the evidence shows that Scott knew where Laci was all along, and that they were just being sent on Wild Goose chases, while Scott knew that Laci and the baby were decaying in the bay under water. No one will find this amusing at all.

[Orangedog]

Boy, I'm glad all of that silly war stuff is over so we can get back to the REAL news [/sarcasm]!

OJ, Part IV, here we go! I already have conditioned myself to grab for the remote whenever I hear the "dead white girl" music lead-in (you know, the same that they played for Chandra and Robert Blakes wife) on Fox News.

[clintonh8r]

I think a change of venue would probably help ensure a fair trial.