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Mike Pingree

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July 22, 2001

FAKE POLICE! YOU'RE UNDER FAKE ARREST! A Nashua, N.H., man was arrested for pretending to be a policeman and using his blue car - equipped with flashing lights - to stop at least three dozen drivers. The real police found a large collection of cop gear at his home and a plate on the front of his car that reads  "ERT-1'' for "Emergency Response Team,'' a group he created and apparently is the only member of. 
He told reporters, "I just wanted to be a law enforcement officer so bad. ... But I went overboard.''

WAIT, WAIT! COME BACK! GOOD NEWS! As the jury deliberated his fate on a charge of rape that could have brought him 20 years in a Connecticut prison, Jermaine Gibson saw his opportunity, walked outside, and fled. 
Then came a development he did not expect. The jury returned shortly thereafter and declared him innocent. In light of the verdict, authorities didn't bother to look for him.

I'M WHERE?! A German got very drunk, stole his friend's boat in Denmark and went out for a sail. Then he passed out. When he awoke, he was in Norway on the other side of the Skagerrak Sea. 
Police wanted to arrest him for boating while drunk, but he was sober by the time they found him. So they let him go.

THIS BELONG TO YOU? A man robbed the Bank Independent in Cherokee, Ala., of $18,000, but forgot that he had put his car keys and wallet on the teller's counter while he was pretending to seek a money order. 
He fled with the money, but police, using his drivers license as a guide, had no trouble locating him for arrest.

GENTLEMEN, GENTLEMEN PLEASE! There was a very spirited discussion as to whether a patron would be allowed to use a computer in the Belfast, Maine, Free Library to view material on his floppy disc. 
The patron, David Geoffrion, said yes. Assistant librarian Mark Burns said no. A fistfight ensued. Police involvement resulted.

Mike Pingree writes another Looking Glass column in the Boston Sunday Herald. You can read it by clicking here:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists.html

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