Posted on 06/29/2005 6:48:01 PM PDT by Rakkasan1
A North Dakota man is facing stiff penalties after riding around in an electric shopping cart in a grocery store while drunk.
Police arrested Clifford Mattson in Devils Lake, N.D., for allegedly operating the Rascal-styled shopping cart around a Leevers grocery store Monday (June 27) while drunk. While the cops couldn't nab him for driving under the influence -- though if it'd been a Zamboni, he'd have been busted (read full story) -- he was slapped with misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. Police say his shopping-cart swerve-a-thon endangered other shoppers. He faces up to $500 in fines and 30 days in jail.
Readers' Comments
(Excerpt) Read more at aversion.com ...
I don't know why but this story was just LOL funny to me. :)
Did someone mention driving a Zamboni while drunk?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1432633/posts
Probably just one of those "iffy" wheels that I always seem to get.
That reminds me of the state motto of South Dakota:
"At least we're not North Dakota."
Well, I'm just shocked, SHOCKED...that they didn't also hit him with tickets for driving without a seatbelt OR a helmet. DWI at the grocery....Oh, the humanity......
:-)
Let's be realistic here. Most everywhere has laws regarding public disorderliness and the like.
The implication here is that this guy was not just a little wobbly going down the isle. That he was being a major moron and slamming around in the cart. He rams that cart into an older person or kid and whammo, broken arm. Followed by gazillion dollar lawsuit. Or some old lady hip is fractured and she never walks again. Your mother or aunt maybe?
Sorry, but I do all the grocery shopping and it would be very easy to injure someone if you were being a total a$$ like that Personally, I'd have tripped the SOB and kicked him in the nads. I'm fed up with going places in public and being subjected to that kind of crap. If it happened when my kid was 3 and went with me, they wouldn't have need the cops. Just an ambulance.
Read my post #8.
The alcohol is irrelevant. It is his behavior that is the issue. If he were sober, he'd still be disorderly.
I guarantee I could break your leg with a grocery cart. It wouldn't be any less broken because I did it in a grocery store.
Police say his shopping-cart swerve-a-thon endangered other shoppers.To convict him they have to prove your theory of actual or potential harm. Good luck.
Most ironic, this, in the aftermath of the Scotus ruling approving theft in New London and everywhere else. O'Conner's dissent made clear that any taking not explicitly accorded to the "public use" clause must prove "harm" in the property taken. None here.
Ooooh, can we have shopping cart drivers arrested for overspending, too? I'll visit my wife every week, and promise to bail her out if she goes into a Shoppers Anonymous program.
No theory about it. IF (and that must be assumed for purposes of this discussion) he was acting as described.
You slam a person hard enough with any firm object you will injure them. If it somehow seems silly to you that, in this case, we are referring to a grocerey cart, well then substitute another object.
Running down the isle waving a baseball bat. Not specifically trying to hit someone, just running a high speed waving it all over the place. So, he hits someone with that. Do you consider that more, or less injurious to the person with the cracked wrist?
If you are suggesting that he was not being that aggressive with the cart, that's a different discussion.
As for your reference to the court case, I don't get the connection to this at all.
You seem upset by this one. Wow. Correct me, anyway, but I don't see that this guy actually hurt anyone.
The article doesn't mention any damage. The Zamboni dude got nailed because he slammed the wall. They'd have had a harder time of convicting him if he hadn't hurt any one or thing.
Prosecutors have a hard time convicting drunk bicylists because they can't prove harm. That was why I made the allusion to the recent Scotus case. O'Conner's dissent was based on the notion that the New London case showed no harm done by the landowners whose properties were condemned. In law, or, at least, decent law, harm done is crucial to any guilt.
A friend of mine was arrested for DUI while riding his bike.
I didn't believe him when he first told me. Then he showed me the paperwork. After a few months of "diversion" training, he was able to get back on his bike.
Weird.
You're right. I am sort of pissed about this one. But not at you.
We don't really know how extreme his behavior was with the cart. I am working from the point that he was pretty out of control. Of course, if he was as you are guessing, then yes, the arrest business is overkill.
What I find annoying is that the article leaves one thinking it could be either extreme. The story is poorly written because it implies there is a causal relationship between the minor intoxication (.012 isn't loaded. And I am sure that if you can't control your behavior after 3 beers, then you probably are a jerk when sober) and his arrest. Which sort of lays it off on police and complaintents. You know, the guy's a little tipsy and everyone's being petty. Which I grant you could very well be the case. The story's intent is to leave you with that impression without actually coming out and saying it. Also, it sort of says "heh heh, just a grocery cart, ya know". Well, if you are a complete jerk, you can really hurt someone with a cart.
I am saying, for the sake of discussion, assume he was going wild with the cart as claimed. We have all seen that kind of crap behavior at times. It would be very easy to injure a person. I take my 82 year old mother in law to the grocery store. She could not avoid that sort of thing. And if she were knocked down, would likely end up in a hospital. Go to your average Publix or such. There is an old person or kid on every isle.
Re: the harm done aspect, my view is more like someone careless or reckless driving. Obviously, to a *very considerably* less degree. i.e. the knowledge that you should be aware your actions are putting others at risk.
I am not being a whiney bunttinzki. More of a "you can swing your arm anywhere you like, but not if my face is in its path" attitude. And, sometimes a good punch in the face or kick in the nuts is a more appropriate and practical response to that kind of person described here.
"Mattson was arrested for having 13 items at the express line."
It ought to be a law!
I thought the state motto of SD was "We're like North Dakota, but with stuff."
Figured with your knowledge of the golf-cart set you'd enjoy this.
I have a friend who encountered a dangerous rascal situation at work one day. A granny wiped out her own grandkids with her out of control rascal. She said kids were flying like bowling pins.
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