Shortly before noon this morning, Ludington Police Department's (LPD) Tony Kuster stopped by my residence looking for me, but only succeeded in contacting my girl Friday.  He left his phone number with a message to give him a call, so she called me and related that I was being sought by the sometimes-LPD-detective for questioning about something. 

Intrigued, since I am a self-certified law-abiding citizen of Ludington, I called the officer at the number, and I was told by the LPD receptionist that Officer Kuster (above, with knickers) was out on his rounds and wasn't available via cell-phone.  So I left my cell phone number and an invitation for him to call me when he got in. 

Two hours later. after going over what he might want to talk with me over in my mind, and deciding it was probably not to take my testimony of any of the law or ethics violations I repeatedly notice happening with the LPD and City of Ludington and bring up at the council meetings, I gave the LPD another call hoping to figure out the mystery.  By this time I was more nervous because I know Officer Kuster handled the 'Shop with a Cop' program that I roundly criticized for a couple months for their inability to have their donations and expenditures fully accounted for and balanced.

This time, Officer Kuster was there.  At first he wanted to either meet me at my house or have me come in for questioning over an incident.  I was a bit wary of having him in my house, as in a previous incident, Kuster allegedly entered and conducted an illegal search in a Ludington citizen's house, and the last time I went to the station as a fact witness, a videotape was made that was distributed to other media, who ran it with my private personal information intact.  I never had been asked or ever gave consent to be recorded that day; the video is proof, I ask to audio record the conversation, he does not relate he is recording me.

He relented to doing a telephone interview, and it started with him asking about whether I was riding a bike around the area at 2 PM yesterday.  As I was thinking over the answer to the question, I was subliminally concerned that they or a hidden camera may have nabbed me for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, as they did back in 2008, which helped lead to my assumption of the X-LFD monicker. 

I also wondered whether I had rode by any city official's house; I was harassed by the LPD back in 2012 after I rode my bicycle down the public street in front of Mayor Henderson's house.  Apparently, me travelling at 15+ mph down the public street without even glancing at his or neighbor John Shay's house is threatening, even though at the time I had a federal lawsuit active versus them and the City for their actual threatening actions and policies that led to me losing my job. 

I recollected and related that on Thursday at around 2 PM the city council had their special meeting in which they voted Wallace Cain as the Fifth Ward Councilor.  Just before this meeting, I had went downtown riding my mountain bike, I had rode to downtown Wesco to get a drink before the meeting, and got to city hall around five minutes early at 1:55.  

He asked whether I had any "close calls" while riding my bicycle on the sidewalk.  The only thing I could recall was an older couple on Ludington Avenue I came from behind and passed, voicing that I was passing them 'on the left'.  He narrowed the focus by asking whether I had passed anybody on the sidewalk to the immediate north of the city hall.  I sincerely could recall nothing of the sort, but I did suggest that to the north of the city hall that there was an outdoor camera, and that it would prove my innocence of any wrongdoing.  He said he didn't know anything about that.

And although he never volunteered a name of who complained about my bicycle riding, he did say that it was one guy, who apparently had no other witnesses.  That surely is convenient.  I would have to presume that whoever made the complaint was probably going to the special meeting, but nobody there before or after the meeting gave me any indication that I had had a close call with them. 

I do know that my front tire was seriously underinflated and that I would have been going up the hill between James and Harrison Streets.  It seems odd that I could be travelling about 10 mph or slower and not remember a 'close call'.  Additionally, I know from a childhood experience that whenever pedestrians and bicyclists come together, the bicyclist is more likely to get hurt.  One clueless pedestrian can take down a peloton of the safest bicyclists. 

Needless to say, I respect and adjust for the unpredictable pedestrians I ride near.  Had there been an actual 'close call',  state law MCL 257.660c says that:  1)  An individual operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or a pedestrian crosswalk shall yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing a pedestrian. 

I always do both, I was even within the more strict local law [Sec. 58-157 Riding on Sidewalks].  So the questions are:

1)  Why didn't whoever make the complaint say something at the time when this 'close call' happened?

2)  Why didn't they bring it to my attention in front of LPD Chief Barnett and the other officials present at, before, or after the meeting, if they attended it?

3)  Why are police resources being stretched just before the 4th of July weekend to verify/refute this matter when they should be able to verify or refute the story with the outside security cameras? 

4)  If this 'close call' wasn't a 'right-of-way' violation issue, why is it being investigated by police at all?  Especially against someone who has successfully sued this corrupt city government in federal court for harassment by city officials, and who was unfairly targeted in September in a social media witch hunt which could easily turn into a second lawsuit?  and

5)  Why was Officer Kuster reluctant to tell me who made the complaint, when I can't for the life of me remember anybody even close to me on that stretch of sidewalk?

Have a great, extended weekend!

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 I know of five other people who have been critical of the City or its officers (it's not against the law) and summarily wound up the target of the LPD in sham investigations, four of those at least are Torchers. 

This is my fourth time, at least.  They can't adequately investigate crimes, accidents and arson fires, but they can conduct nuisance investigations with the best, and have video coverage of restroom stalls second to none.

I see the police are doing a complete investigation of this incident as seen in the picture below. It's nice to know that the LPD is so thorough when it comes to petty, ridiculous complaints.

The police have nothing better to do? Unless someone was willing to file a complaint the police should have told the complainant there was "nothing to see here" and should never have bothered you. The officer only showed just how Mickey Mouse his department is. Whomever made the complaint knows you. Why not buy one of those cheap dashcams and connect it to your bike.  If the police know you are video recording your bicycle adventures I'm sure this will be the last time they will be bothering you regarding such tripe concerns.

What kind of cop would even take that call and make an investigation out of it?  That should tell you all you need to know. Never talk to cops! You let your attorney do that.

Sound advice, but I wouldn't waste my attorney's time dealing with this nothing-burger.  My guess is that somebody cried wolf to Chief Barnett, who has made clear his displeasure with me at three council meetings and one 'press conference', and would love to take me down. 

I'm not that easy though, he'll have to buy me chocolates, and take me to a movie of my choice, then serenade me on my doorstep-- then knock me out somehow.

He's not the type to do the REAL work. pfffft'... He sends his messages to his messengers, all the way down to the local business rats. Sewer dwellers.... Wanna be's... Snitches and set up artists. The crybabies who hide in church plotting  the demise of others. Hiding behind god and fake prayers.

Verdad, I recently noted that the local bicycle regulations dealing with James and Ludington Avenue cannot be legally enforced by a fair court, since state law says that local public entities cannot make special local regulations that affect state trunklines (which include the street right-of-ways, see MCL 257.606).  So if you ever get stopped on Ludington or South James for violating a local bicycle rule, challenge it.  Unless they have endorsement by the state, you could avoid it.

By section 3 of the above law if there is no traffic sign/marking notifying the public of the special regulation, it is not enforcible.  On certain sidewalks in the downtown area, they have markings on the pavement that disallows bicycles, skateboards, etc.; if those have not faded and it's not on a state trunkline, those are enforceable. 

Registration is not being followed, I called in a few years back and was told so. 

The law in the USA states that any person being accused of breaking some law, has the right to know what, why, and if applicable, whom his accuser is. That the LPD doesn't agree with that is unlawful in itself, and warrants the accused subject not to answer any questions that might make him appear guilty of something, whether that party is or not. 

Rode, ridden, railroaded.  The FOIA request for the police records has been made, and we should find out the identity of the aggrieved person and find out what they said happened.  It should be great reading, I love mysteries, that's what I'm guilty of. 

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