Why Ludington's Kayak Guy's Arrest Affects You

[XLFD]

You may have caught the news of an arrest of a kayaker over the last weekend in one of the local media outlets, such as the MCP, and found it amusing before scrolling down to other things.  Or you could have been like me, and wanted to know more and wondered why the kayaker was pursued in the first place. 

Fortunately, our local media, who typically get the weekend press releases from the Mason County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) and run with it almost verbatim, were not the only ones that took an interest in the story.  Lynne Moore of Mlive delved a little deeper into the subject, perhaps lured by the fact that the MCSO report had two other instances of assaultive behavior on MCSO deputies over this last weekend.  Her report follows with the two other incidents edited out for focus and brevity:

LUDINGTON, MI – A sucker punch to a deputy's face allegedly by a drunken kayaker was among three assaultive incidents against Mason County Sheriff's deputies over the weekend, the others taking place at a hospital and a library of all places.

Alan Glenn Ross, 56, of Ludington was arraigned Monday for felonious assault on a sheriff's deputy, who ended up tasing the kayaker on Ludington's Crosswinds Beach. The deputy, who was called after the kayaker allegedly harrassed local fishermen, suffered cuts to his mouth, said Mason County Sheriff Kim C. Cole...

Ross allegedly had been harassing fishermen lined on the Ludington channel's north break wall, Cole said. The fishermen complained to Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers who were checking for fishing licenses, Cole said.

"(Ross) paddled close and gave the DNR officers the finger and started yelling obscenities," Cole said.

He then paddled to the south side of the channel, so the conservation officers called for assistance apprehending him, and one of Cole's deputies responded, the sheriff said.

"When the deputy approached him, he started verbally battering the deputy, swearing at the deputy, refusing the deputy's commands," Cole said. "And when the deputy approached him, he punched him once."

The deputy suffered a split lip and cut on the inside of his mouth. He grabbed his taser and fired, but the cartridge misfired, Cole said.

"After the taser failed, the guy started closing in on the deputy," Cole said. "The deputy took some evasive steps and was ... effective with the second taser."

Ross was arraigned Monday for aggravated felonious assault on a police officer - strong arm and disorderly conduct, according to the sheriff's office. Bail was set at 10 percent of $7,500, and he remained lodged in the Mason County Jail Monday afternoon.

The account of this incident should make you uneasy, for even if you believe Ross was acting improperly, the facts presented indicate both the conservation officers and deputy also acted inappropriately.  Here's why.

The fisherman claim that Ross was harassing them, presumably verbally, since no encroachment or physical harassing behavior is inferred.  The DNR officers were there checking licenses and got upset themselves when Ross, still in his kayak, swore at them and gave them the 'finger'.  Ross' behavior is definitely antisocial and against normal public decorum, but he's well within his First Amendment rights to swear at a DNR officer and offer them up the finger.  Courts in Michigan and elsewhere recognize such speech as protected. 

The 'Disorderly Conduct' charge at this point is thus unfounded, as a look at that statute (MCL 750.167 ) has only one section that comes close to application, namely DC occurs when:  

"(e) A person who is intoxicated in a public place and who is either endangering directly the safety of another person or of property or is acting in a manner that causes a public disturbance."   Here are what constitutes a legal description of public disturbances.

If the eventually arresting officers could maintain that Ross was intoxicated (not just ornery) and that he created a public disturbance (which was not the case with the data given), they had no reason to harass Ross any further after his breach of social etiquette.  Presuming they made their intent to detain Ross known to him, Ross did the sensible thing by retreating across the channel to de-escalate the situation.  But the call to the MCSO was made, along with what we have to assume is the DNR officers intention to arrest the man-- for engaging in legally protected free speech.

Once Ross gets to the other side and before any punches are thrown, there is a lot of gaps in what happened.  Sheriff Cole insists that Ross was verbally battering the deputy, which one must presume is what he was doing to the DNR officers.  Battery, in legal terms, cannot be done verbally.  Cole then claims he was not listening to the deputy's commands, but perhaps Ross knew that the deputies orders were not being done in accordance with the law and of the deputy's duty to uphold all laws.

Sheriff Cole then claims the deputy approached the kayaker, still without any given reason to do so other than to unnecessarily escalate the situation or to effectuate an unwarranted arrest.  Ross did not approach the officer, the alleged 'punch' could easily have been a defensive reflex against an unlawfully acting person threatening him and rushing him with a variety of weapons at their disposal. 

Ross was then targeted with a taser which misfired, and then Ross reportedly 'closed in' on the deputy, who then fired a second taser successfully. 

Ross does not look very drunk in his mugshot, he is old enough to understand that chasing a cop who has a gun at their disposal and who is not otherwise following lawful protocol is not a smart move.  So this vaguely described altercation seems to be a stretch of what actually happened.

So the reader of this piece should be troubled that even the 'official' version of events indicate that Ross did nothing legally wrong up until his space was encroached upon by the deputy, threatening Ross with arrest with unlawful and misguided authority.  It is a recurring theme with this sheriff's office:  see also Joseph McAdam, and Kimberly Septrion to name a couple.

[XLFD]

Jasper, the only harassment I detect in the news articles is the harassment of Alan Ross by the DNR and the MCSO.  I see no reason why the DNR agents would send the county mounties after somebody to deprive them of their freedom just because they were told where they could stick their poor interpretation of the law.

[XLFD]

Shinblind, 

You would be absolutely correct just one year ago today, but the Marine Safety Act was amended effective March 31, 2015, replacing the word 'vessel' to 'motor boat' in the operating while intoxicated section MCL 324.80176.  As of April 1, 2015, you can kayak or canoe while blitzed.  While I wouldn't do it myself, I am happy that was changed.  Why criminalize this behavior when these drunk kayakers generally can't harm others?  Except with their harsh words to conservation officers, of course! 

[Jasper]

Totally agree XLFD. That is exactly what I stated. Mr. Ross was accused of harassing the fisherman on the break wall, but without explicit details of said alleged harassment. In turn for these alleged allegations he appears to have been physically harassed by the local county boys. Curios if dash cams and body cams were in use.

[XLFD]

Hopefully, the MCSO and MI DNR will be forthcoming in their reports and video recordings, because someone is planning on sending a FOIA request for same.  Perhaps Mr. Ross can get some renumeration (Richard Wilson's term for remuneration) from the errant agencies for this %^$#@& incident.

[Willy]

I agree with Aquaman on this issue. According to the report Ross brought this on himself. For all we know he was deliberately interfering with the fishermen. Ross asked for trouble and he got it. The fact that he hit an officer just adds to the fact that Ross is an Ahole. How would the police know if he wasn't going over to the other side of the outlet to cause more trouble. The police have to answer the complaint call as they are required to do. It was Ross who hit the officer. Just how stupid can someone be? I can see the legal side of this as to whether he should have been approached but as far as I'm concerned everyone would have had a peaceful afternoon if not for that moronic kayaker. If I had been that cop I would have planted those taser probes directly on his forehead. By the way I have always found that breakwater fishermen, women and children to be a courteous, helpful and congenial bunch of people so they must have taken a lot of crap from Ross for them to drop a dime on him.  

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks Willy, I agree with your post. Alot of those men and woman fishing the pierhead are friends of mine, and locals mostly. And they aren't baby's that cry for help without a very valid reason. I get the feeling this guy may have come too close to them, yelled obscenities or insults at them, esp. if they cast their lines too close to Ross, and they just reported it while the DNR was already there checking for fishing licenses. Ross could have easily defused the situation by just being courteous to the DNR. Instead, he tried to run away. To top that off, now he is facing a Felony, Battery on any LE Officer, maybe 2-5 years in prison, and a high fine. Perhaps add to that DUI on the water in a public channel, disturbing the peace, resisting, obstruction of an officer in his duty, assault, and maybe more. I doubt ANY Attorney would want this case, local or not. Due to Ross's behavior, he doesn't stand a chance of any not guilty plea. He's going down bad for this one imho. Wonder what his criminal record is too?

[XLFD]

The COLDNews in the ides of March edition (March 15) gives us a little more info on what went on that day before the escalation took place.  Here's the entirety of that account:  "Ross was intoxicated while kayaking around the Ludington North Breakwater and was asking fishermen for "a light" for his cigarettes, according to the MCSO."  End of report.

Wow, that sounds like deliberate interference and someone who was antagonizing the fishermen.  If we presume the fisher folk are normally friendly people, I would presume that the start of aggressive talking was initiated by the DNR who got their feelings hurt and eventually wanted to arrest this kayaker just because he swore at them, gave them the finger, and didn't respect their authority. 

Whereas, I don't condone such behavior, Ross shouldn't have been pursued or approached by the deputy who was all too eager to arrest him on the whim of the DNR officer's butthurt.

[Willy]

There's got to be more to the story than that because any normal person would have just told him they did or did not have a lighter. My guess is he was getting to close to the rocks and was interfering with the fishing lines and he was asked to move on. At that point he started his obnoxious behavior which escalated into his electrification. If all that took place was his asking for a light then this entire story and its aftermath would make no sense.  Like I said if he had started an incident for no reason on the north side of the entrance it would be common sense to assume he would take his aggressive behavior over to the south side, thus the call for police intervention. Until the entire story comes out we may never know. I would like to hear from some of the fishermen who were there.

[AQUAMAN]

I just got news on this episode from some fishermen there that day. It's true, Ross is the one whom initiated the problems by his rude behavior. He was yelling at the pierhead fishermen, and cutting their lines off by coming too close. Once he saw the DNR, which were NOT called by the fishermen, he became even more angry and violent. And so, the rest is history.

[Jasper]

So this Ross guy was allegedly yelling at some fisherman reported by you. Here say. Not against any law to yell at a fisherman. Perhaps the fisherman were casting their lines towards Mr. Ross. Personally, I have experienced very rude and inconsiderate fishermen on the break wall. Fortunate to have my eyes after inconsiderate fisherman cast without viewing who was behind them. Attorney Michael Nichols would have a hay day with this case. The same Michael Nichols hired by State Police trooper Seymour.

[XLFD]

I think almost any attorney who makes their living off of civil rights violations would have a good case here should Mr. Ross decide to retain one.  Even if Ross was encroaching on the fishermen's area and swearing, the response called for by the DNR was inappropriate in even the worst portrayed circumstances at this point, and hopefully the MCSO and DNR will cooperate in getting more data out on their part (via my FOIA requests), and we can hear Ross' side of the story at some point.

[AQUAMAN]

I doubt Ross is the type with any money to hire a good attorney. Plus he's got at least a dozen witnesses that will back the DNR/MCSO on this. Waste of time and money imho. Where was Ross even from? Doesn't sound like any local I've heard of, and certainly, someone with an anger management problem, plus probably severe alcoholism. Just my two cents.