An odd story coming out of Ludington last night on TV 9&10 News

A strange discovery at 1:00 in the morning.

Video shows a man carrying a bag of swords.

According to deputies, Ricky Wilson told them he was there to drop the swords off early Friday morning since he thought they were illegal…

But then said he wanted to speak to a lawyer.

The video shows Wilson shake hands with a statue outside the sheriff’s department and hide behind it when a car drives by.

This is what deputies found on him; two swords, a dagger and a switchblade.

The sheriff says it’s not only bizarre, but alarming.

“When you look at the totality of everything, it paints a very troubling picture of what could have happened. He’s outside of an employee entrance that deputies passed in front of hundreds of times throughout the week at all times of day and night,” said Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole.

Wilson is now charged with one count of carrying a concealed weapon.

A couple things that piques my curiosity about this incident, after noting the fact that the swordsman shares his name with Ludington's City Attorney Richard (Tricky Ricky) Wilson.  Tricky Ricky isn't actually his middle name, oddly enough it's Merlin who was associated with his fair share of swords back in Camelot.  Other than the receding hairline, the crazy activities, and the immediate call for more attorneys, these Ricky Wilsons don't seem to be related.

First, you will notice that this happened early on Friday September 15, and wasn't reported anywhere until this blurb on a TV station more than an hours drive away.  It wasn't related to the sheriff-friendly local media on Friday morning, over the weekend, or even on Monday-- at least it wasn't reported on by them, and still hasn't.  Also, contrary to the usual policies of this sheriff who claim no parts of traffic accidents are subject to FOIA without a completed investigation, they release video of the incident to get them out in the public eye. 

Second, there is a major gap in this story which the TV reporters allow to go untouched.  We see Wilson acting out in front of the statue, and hiding behind the statue when a car passes, but the video fails to show the deputies confronting Wilson.  This is important because we learn that somehow, the deputies learn that there are weapons in Wilson's bag. 

Now either he volunteered that information, which seems unlikely since he reportedly asked to speak with a lawyer almost immediately, or the deputies searched or threatened to search his bag, when there was no good reason to.  He was not considered to be doing anything criminal at the time, perhaps acting a bit squirrelly, but he was on exterior public property and was not accused of anything else other than the felony of concealed carry with a potential 5 year sentence if convicted and $2500 penalty.

As typical for carrying a concealed weapon charges, Ricky Wilson's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizures should be exploited fully by his attorneys, and if his rights were not respected by the arresting deputies, he should capitalize on their inability to fulfill their duties lawfully.

EDITOR's AFTERWORD:  The Mason County Press also came out with a story on Monday concerning Ricky Ninja, and they included a sheriff-provided video of him cavorting around the statue area.  It does not show his interaction with the deputies, which leads me to believe that something may have been done inappropriately. 

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What I think may have happened is that Ricky told the deputies that he was a 15th level half-orc monk, but they looked over his character sheet and found out he was a zero-level half-wit monkey.  So they left him with the general population.

I couldn't let this discussion go without a D&D reference, I apologize.  I wouldn't be too surprised if the guy was walking back from a gaming session where he showed his friends his sword collection.  The poor guy now has $7000 in bail to raise and face a felony in a very prosecution-friendly Mason County Circuit Court.

Maybe Sheriff Cole will target the Havenshire Faire in Victory Township later this year, they've been known to carry swords and daggers too.

If only he had a child to donate to Kim's church.

From what I've heard, that definitely would have helped.

What is this innuendo all about?

If some favoritism has been shown regarding Sheriff Cole bring it out into the open.

This is the first time this forum has disappointed me. 

Don't let it fall to the level of being a high school clique.

Taking a closer look now at the oriental swords, perhaps they were more for show with sheaths included. But, that still doesn't explain why he was hanging around MCSO loitering. If I was a deputy, I think I would have asked Ricky to come inside and answer some questions before any arrest and see what his explanation was to start, then draw the appropriate conclusions. Or maybe that was already done on another video and it's not available? Really need more info. on this character to see how he reacted to being found out first imho.

shinblind,

I can't speak for Streeter's reference, but I was made privy to what amounted to an expedited adoption that happened a few years ago, made possible through heavy-handed use of power  from county officials currently associated with our local justice system wresting a young boy from her mother and finding 'permanent' adoptive parents who worshipped within the same church of one or more of those officials. 

From what I could decipher from my research, the mother was raped first by the baby's unscrupulous father, then by our so-called justice system.  It's just one of many reasons why I look at many of these officials with a jaundiced eye, for some engage in such acts and most know of the iniquities that go on, but none are willing to take steps to change it.

From the video it looks like the handle of the gaudy Chinese katana was sticking out of his gym bag. Would this give the Deputies probable cause to search further?

In any event he was carrying a concealed switchblade. 

They are illegal until the 10th of October. A felony with up to a 5 year sentence. Then the law changes and they are legal to own. Might be legal to carry depending on the circumstances.

Did the deputies arrest Wilson so that he would be one of the last one's serving time in the State on those charges? Might they get a write up in the Sheriff's Gazette or what ever trade paper county law enforcement uses? 

Good eye, it does look like one or more of the handles are outside of the bag. 

If that was the case, I find it a rather pointless (no edged weapon pun intended) legal exercise to try and say Ricky was concealing the fact that he was carrying weapons in his bag.  The two elements of carrying concealed weapons is that you carry a 'weapon' and that you are trying to conceal that you are.   The festive handles or scabbard bottoms of his katanas being visible would have me as a judge throwing this felony out, and since the only thing keeping the repeal of switchblade possession (enacted by the governor into law on July 24, after the state house and senate passed it with only one 'nay' vote in each chamber) from coming into play is the passage of time to October 10, I would encourage the prosecutor to stay his hand.

The only questions I would have would be whether the deputies handled the search of Ricky, the seizure of his weapons, and the imprisonment of him under a specious felony, properly.  That's why I would never be elected a judge in Mason County.

Maybe Johnnie Cochran will represent Ricky Wilson, "If the katana don't fit you must acquit."

I would question whether it was actually a switch blade knife or a flip blade. Switch blade , not legal  is spring actuated and a flip blade, legal , is wrist actuated. Does our police know the difference?

There does appear to be something sticking out of the bag. So much for the swords being considered concealed.  By the way what kind of coat is he wearing? Also at about 2:44 into the video it looks like he's waving at the surveillance camera.

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