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.

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Check out this Vimeo video proved by Michael Nichols.......www.vimeo.com/159345774

Again it will be interesting to obtain more facts of these allegations of Mr. Ross under the influence of alcohol. Details......details.....not enough information provided by law enforcement to the local media for anyone to be bashing on this guy!!

That video has three very good points. 

1) How a breath test can be way off.

2) That the 'eye test' is very subjective.

3) That there are more patrols out there right now in Michigan until early next month by police checking for not only drunk driving but also whether you are using the 'passing lane' properly-- again a subjective test.  Be safe and smart out there.

Arraignment =innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

It's not the drunk part of this case I'm concerned with, it's the harassment of the people fishing and the alleged punching of the officer. You don't have to believe Aquaman's information as to what the fishermen said, that's up to you, but I believe it. So if you think the fishermen were lying to Aquaman and that he is not being honest about what he heard, then, I have no idea what you will believe. If you can't believe Aquaman's account of what eye witnesses of the incident tell him, I guess the only way you will be convinced is if Ross tells you himself that he did all the things he was accused of. Even juries have to take the word of those who relate what they saw or did because they were not there to see it as you seem to think is necessary to verify what took place.

I have known  AL  for many years . Sadly he has had a drinking and other problems for years.  When he won the region mile at Mt. Pleasant, he flipped the bird to the crowd in the stands as he crossed the finish line.   Sadly, this doesn't surprise me.

Thanks for the personal observations dowland, now we pretty much know a lot more. And thanks to Jasper too, for believing the best in people, and for the video of testing for DUI's. Btw, dowland, Clint Eastwood just endorsed Trump this past week, even if you're not a fan, lol. Dittos to Willy, thanks. Sad that Ross hasn't sought treatment for his problems, maybe he'll hit bottom now, and get some sorely needed help. We can only hope, this whole ordeal is a new one to me on local fishermen, at least for this year.

I sent an E-mail FOIA request regarding the DNR's public records referencing this incident on Sunday March 20, 2016, it was received by that agency on Monday March 21, as per the act.  It was directed to their FOIA division.  As for State Holidays, there is none between President's Day and Memorial Day, therefore, Good Friday and Day-After-Easter do not apply. 

Today, March 30, I received a FOIA response from them, telling me they were asking for a ten day extension, claiming "In order to determine the existence of nonexempt information, inquiry must be made of the appropriate staff of the Division."  The FOIA (MCL 15.235(3) says:  "Failure to respond to a request within 5 business days after the public body receives the request constitutes a public body's final determination to deny the request"  Five business days ended after Monday, March 28.

This is a main reason why I think the DNR is more at fault here than the cantankerous Alan Ross.  There is an unprofessionalism and unaccountability that runs throughout the agency in matters such as this.  The MCSO at least requested an extension within the period for response.  One has to wonder, what is the difficulty in creating an incident report within two weeks after the fact for either agency? 

Mr. Ross was required to have a life jacket on his person or on his vessel and to show it to a legitimate LEO. He did not. This broke the law and led to his arrest and incarceration. He left the scene while under questioning. This also broke the law. He was drunk and physically confronted a second law officer. Another violation. And he's lucky he didn't capsize, where he would have lived 15-30 minutes in 40 degree water before going unconscious and drowning, causing others to endanger their own lives to try and save him. They should have let him get in his car and start it. That would have added a DUI charge. All the speculation about harassing fishermen, boating while drunk, etc. is peripheral to the first violation of law--failure to have a life jacket aboard his boat. 

These are Michigan's requirements for flotation devices.

Aside from requiring life jackets for children which I approve of, I compare these requirements for adults to be as infringing on peoples rights as seat belts. If people want to be stupid that's their right. His involvement with the police is another matter.

The Coast Guard has a right to declare any vessel and crew "manifestly unfit for sea." That is why life jackets are required in every boat, including kayaks. When Ross was asked to display his legally required life jacket by the CO, he left the scene, which constitutes failure to comply with the lawful request of a law enforcement officer. That is also a violation. And rather than slamming the US Coast Guard for doing nothing about it while playing video games, why don't you check with the Station and get their assessment of the situation. Coasties work very closely with local city, county, and state law enforcement, and the CO and county police had the situation under control. This was a simple police matter, not a maritime rescue, (although it easily could have involved the rescue or recovery of Ross's limp, hypothermic body). 

To RX Hubbard

The phrase as it was originally spoken was,"...too busy with the card games in the back room to be bothered." The context was it was used by a retired Master Chief Petty Officer CG when he chewed out a Commanding Officer at a Coast Guard Station for not following through with aiding a boater in distress because of other plans.

This was the least salty phrase he used. The Commanding Officer had no defense. He stood there and took it. The MCPO had credentials and friends still in.

I updated it with video games instead of the card game to make it more relevant.

Although I never asked him I am certain CPO received an ass chewing where the same phrase was used.

The phrase stuck with me and I use it whenever I get an inadequate or incomplete response why a chain of events happened.  "Too busy with the card (video)  games in the back room to be bothered."

Willy, I did notice that page in the Michigan DNR when doing research for this article, but I looked up and down the laws of Michigan and couldn't find any laws requiring "Vessels less than 16 feet (including canoes and kayaks) must be equipped with one Type I, II, III or IV PFD for each person on board." 

Barring any such law, or until someone can reveal to me the apparently-buried legal controlling authority that actually states anybody using a canoe or kayak in inland waters must wear a life jacket, I maintain that Publiski and the DNR website are incorrectly defining the law.  It wouldn't be the first time the DNR creates their own policy in contempt of the laws of our state.

RK Hubbard, I believe the appellation you were looking for was "manifestly unfit to proceed to sea", and this application by the coast guard or other authority has to do with a vessel's seaworthiness, not the crew's.  Ross had no need to show the DNR officer a life jacket, as there was no law requiring Ross in that situation to have one on.  You also fail to show any form of disorderly conduct performed by Ross in the exchange with the DNR CO.  Please organize and defend your legal points and point to the reason why Ross was out of order and deserved what he got, instead of telling us what you would have had Alan Ross do in the same situation.  I don't consider the control the various police units had in this case was proper, or within their duty, but I am fairly sure that Alan Ross is now safer and probably won't drown in the county jail.

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