On
September 30, the Middletown Press reported that Robert Baranowsky was
arrested for breach of peace after removing a toy gun from his pocket
while at City Hall, paying his taxes. This was also reported earlier in
the Middletown Patch.
Both
articles make it clear that Mr. Baranowsky did not make any sort of
threat or behave in a manner that could be interpreted as being
intimidating. In fact, the Patch article reports that the employee who
made the complaint stated that Baranowsky made no threats to anyone! I
interpret Mr. Baranowsky's comments to the unnamed city employee as him
being a bit embarrassed and sheepish about having a toy on his person,
in the first place.
This
whole matter defies common sense. The employee who was so nervous and
scared that she broke into tears, perhaps should seek counseling. Officer Dimassa, the arresting officer, appears to have exercised poor judgement in making an arrest and should be reprimanded.
On
the face of it, this is a waste of taxpayer money and police
resources. Most of the comments following the Press/Patch articles
agree.
As
a tax payer, I resent my tax dollars being squandered in such a
frivolous and useless manner. Hopefully, the prosecutor will see this
for the nonsense that it is and dismiss it.
http://www.middletownpress.com/general-news/20150930/pd-middletown-man-paying-taxes-showed-clerk-toy-gun#disqus_thread
http://patch.com/connecticut/middletown-ct/toy-gun-tax-collectors-office-results-arrest
Very well said. Thanks for this insightful post.
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
ReplyDeleteAs a grandfather I have pulled toy trucks, action figures, plastic knives, and masks from my coat pockets. So put that together and I have getaway vehicles, a posse, weapons and disguises with me.
ReplyDelete