Posted April 17, 2007

Mistaken identity: Suspect hands police pot pipe instead of license

FdL man, 35, found passed out in hotel bathroom

Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers


A $500 cash bail was ordered Monday for a 35-year-old Fond du Lac man
who was arrested early Sunday after he handed an officer a marijuana
pipe instead of his driver's license.

Thomas E. Bartow Jr., 44½ N. Main St., made an initial court
appearance Monday morning. He was charged with possession of drug
paraphernalia and resisting or obstructing an officer.

Bartow was apparently intoxicated when officers found him passed out
in a bathroom stall at the Ramada Hotel, 1 N. Main St., around 1 a.m.
Sunday, according to a Fond du Lac Police Department report. He was
fully clothed and sitting on a toilet.

Officers shook Bartow several times before he responded. They asked
him if he knew where he was and Bartow replied, "Yeah, West Bend,"
according to the report.

The officer asked Bartow for identification and Bartow pulled out a
yellow and gray marijuana pipe and handed it to the officer, the
report said. The officer again asked for identification, and Bartow
took out his checkbook, ripped out a check and handed it to the officer.

The officer then asked Bartow to exit the bathroom. Bartow walked out
of the hotel and started walking down Division Street, ignoring the
officers' orders to stop, according to the report.

Officers used a Taser gun on Bartow after he continued to be
uncooperative, according to the report. He was arrested and taken to
the Fond du Lac County Jail.

He told officers he'd never seen the marijuana pipe before, according
to the report.

http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070417/OSH/304170048


DaBronx
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