Posted on 06/20/2003 5:29:14 PM PDT by Libloather
Dean Says Son Charged With Burglary
2 hours, 16 minutes ago
By ROSS SNEYD, Associated Press Writer
MONTPELIER, Vt. - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean said Friday that his 17-year-old son and four other teenagers were cited in a burglary for attempting to steal liquor from a Vermont country club.
Dean, who canceled several campaign appearances, said his son, Paul, and teammates on the high school hockey team apparently were discovered early Friday morning at the Burlington Country Club by a police officer on routine patrol. Dean said it was his understanding that his son would be charged as an accessory.
"Children do stupid things and this is one of them," Dean said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from a Minnesota airport where he was awaiting a flight back to Vermont.
"I'm cutting short my next two days on the campaign trail to deal with a family problem that I consider to be a serious problem," he said.
Art Cyr, a detective in Burlington, Vt., said the incident occurred between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. Friday, when the police officer spotted Paul Dean seated at the wheel of a car near the country club and questioned him, learning that the burglary was in progress.
Cyr said he believed Dean's role was to be the driver while the teen's four friends went to a storage area at the club to get the liquor. The teenagers were ordered to appear in court to answer charges on Aug. 5. In Paul Dean's case, the charge would be accessory to burglary.
In a statement released later in the day, Dean said, "I understand that this matter is being handled by the state's attorney, and I hope the press and the public will respect the privacy of my family — particularly of my son — during this difficult time."
The Democratic candidate and former Vermont governor had been in St. Paul, Minn., for a Democratic meeting, and had planned to attend a forum in Iowa on Saturday.
Dean said he still would travel to Washington Sunday for an appearance on NBC's "Meet The Press," but he had not decided whether to participate in the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition candidate forum in Chicago and a subsequent fund-raiser there.
The candidate planned to go forward with his formal announcement and campaign kickoff on Monday in Burlington.
Dean said because Paul, whom he described as an "honor student," is captain of his school hockey team, the incident probably would have become public.
"When you're 17 years old, you get to make bad decisions and this was one," Dean said.
Exactley, D.U. is the types that go after politicians kids because of there beliefs, and I would like to think that we have more class then they do.
Never said so. A 17-year-old, with a father, who was the governor and is now running for president, didn't know that knocking off a locked clubhouse for booze wasn't a crime in a state that he's lived in all his life?
Again, c'mon...
the restaurant manager said nearly $500 worth of beer and champagne were stolen after the burglars clipped the padlock on the cooler to get in about 4:30 a.m. Friday. The manager also said police told her that Paul Dean was driving the getaway car, and was actually caught when University of Vermont police noticed a suspicious car in the area. The manager told Cook that when police approached the vehicle, Paul Dean apparently confessed to the burglary, and gave police the names of the other three involved..
I didn't say that. Nor did I imply it.
Wass up wiff Jeb?
Same here, I hate this stuff.
You're running for president, and your 17-year-old kid is a crack dealer.
That isn't news?
Well, his daughter's got a drug problem, got arrested for it, and plenty of people tried to make political hay out of the fact.
I agree. There are responsible teens out there, like the ones serving in Iraq, but this kid acted like a brat and tempted fate.
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/news/4000h.htm
The suspects removed the contents in hockey bags, she said. Middlebrook on Friday retrieved 18 cases of beer -- Miller Lite, Heineken and Labatt's among them -- from the police department, she said.
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