It's kind of a long dull story. Basically I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. And unluckily for me, there's still a charge on the Maryland books to handle that: Rogue & Vagabond. Cool, huh? Sounds like something from D&D.
The basic story is I was out with three of my buddies at about 2:00am and we were fu*kin' around. We had been drinking, of course. Took the car to the automated carwash (rolled down the windows with radio blasting, etc.), and were on our way across town to 7-11 to get some chili dogs and sunglasses and whatnot - all the kinds of impulse items you buy in the wee hours of the morning when you've got a buzz.
But my friend who was driving was swerving along to the music, as stupid as that sounds. Cop pulls us over, he fails the breathalizer. That might have been the end of it for the other three of us, since it's not a crime to be drunk as a passenger. But they did a search of the car, and as we all worked at a theatre making sets and such we had a sh!tload of tools in the car, plus the guy who was driving (and who's car it was) liked to juggle and had his long-@ss juggling knives in the trunk. So, we had weapons and tools that could conceiveably be used for break-ins (bolt cutters especially caught their attention). An alarm at some warehouse in the general area had gone off about 45-minutes beforehand, so they decided to just take us all in.
That charge, since the three passengers weren't doing anything specific but simply looked suspicious from the cop's point-of-view and were out with no particular place to go, is simply called Rogue & Vagabond. It's on the books from the olden days, when they could lock up derelicts and passers through who couldn't afford to get off the street.
Of course the driver of the car was in real trouble, and was charged with a DUI. The rest of us were cuffed, printed, photographed - the whole bit. We all spent the night in the County jail. Since it was a Saturday night/Sunday morning, the jail was all full by the time we rolled in around 3:00am. So instead of proper cells, we were all put together into the drunk tank, which had a couple benches on the wall, two beds, and a toilet. We were supposed to get our phonecalls, but because it was late and shift changes and such, they forgot about us. I got out around 1:00pm, and the last of my friends was out by 2:30pm. You had to go in front of a judge, get R.O.R. and a court date set.
By the time the court date actually arrived (we had to get lawyers and all), the Rogue & Vagabond charges were all dismissed, and after eight months or something our records were supposedly expunged. In theory I can honestly reply that I have not been arrested on applications and the like, because technically the judge wiped it out like it never happened and shouldn't be on the books any longer.
The friend with the D.U.I lost his license for I forget how long, had to go to the driving classes, etc. This was back when I was 19 I think. The fella driving was 20, the other guy in the backseat with me was 19, and the guy in the passenger seat was 25.
All in all it was OK. Long night, and I was the only one keeping everyone's spirits up. Obviously the friend who was driving was inconsolable, but for the others I took the plastic matress off the bed for a shield and used my socks for handpuppets for a show or three, I did some good singing and fake harmonica playing, etc. I had a good time, I guess.
So arrested, but never convicted.
BTW, that friend with the juggling knives who got the D.U.I. eventually went to Clown College and became an official Ringling Brothers clown, traveling on the train from town to town with the circus for two separate stints of two and three years. Eventually married a girl from the circus, one of the dancers who rode the elephants. I ***** you not.
Last edited by Holden Pike; 02-10-02 at 07:46 PM.
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