I'm impressed with the DA and the sherriff's ofice if they agreed to this. Usually, "serve and protect" isn't taken this seriously.
2010-03-05 17:08:07
5
Bike Polo Field in Milwaukee, and how they'll get it
Interesting Story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal this morning:
Milwaukee bike polo players score in deal on trespassing tickets
Judging by the intensity of their high-fives, the Milwaukee bike polo players arrested and ticketed for trespassing back in January were quite pleased with the deal they scored in court on Friday morning.
They have good reason.
What some considered a $263 slap on the wrist for trespassing will become more of a pat on the back. The tickets will be dismissed if the nine mallet-wielding defendants reach an agreement with the sheriff's and parks departments on a bike polo location and take charge of the permanent play space.
"This is awesome," said one of the defendants, Joe Burge. "That's all we ever wanted."
Burge was one of 11 players and spectators arrested and ticketed by sheriff's deputies for playing bike polo in the parking garage in O'Donnell Park on Jan. 10. Parks department workers and police had previously ordered the bikers out of the space on the Milwaukee lakefront, but they returned to the sheltered play area to escape the winter elements.
The initial tickets cited the players for trespass to a dwelling, a mark suggesting burglary that the group of 20-somethings didn't want to carry on their records. Nine of the 11 pleaded not guilty at their initial hearing in February.
The legal fortunes for the bike polo players turned very favorable through discussions between the prosecutors and attorney John Thomure, a litigator from the Michael Best & Friedrich firm, who took the players' case pro bono, as a favor to his sister-in-law. She plays the game out in Seattle.
In court Friday, prosecutors amended the citation to trespass on land, and said even those tickets woudl be dismissed provided the players reach an agreement with the parks and sheriff's officials. The deal will be finalized in a hearing on May 19.
Thomure said the district attorneys office deserved credit for recognizing the need for a plan that would accomodate bike polo and encourage growth of the sport.
Checking the scorecard - the players seem to have scored a 2-0 shutout.
Kudos go out to the attorney, and his sister-in-law!
2010-03-05 17:02:10
Waiting for the BIKE POLO IS NOT A CRIME stickers and tshirts. they probably already exist
2010-03-05 18:48:16
Yup, already exist.
As do shirts with mug shots of the various parties involved.
2010-03-05 20:06:39
Do you think this would have happened if they had paid to park? Like buying time at the ice rink...
2010-03-05 20:14:50