A mystery man arrested on minor charges more than three weeks ago remains behind bars in Utah while law enforcement officials try to determine his true identity, which he refuses to reveal…
The unidentified man, who has graying hair, a light beard and is believed to be in his 60′s, was arrested on July 1 for trespassing in a parking garage. He was booked into jail on three misdemeanor charges and has thwarted any chance of release, with or without bail, by refusing to identify himself…
Law enforcement officials say the man is “fairly well spoken and educated,” but very guarded about his identity.
As a result of several short conversations with him, officers believe he may not be from Utah…
Officials say in three weeks of jail the mystery man has shown a pleasant demeanor and has communicated that he is being treated well…“He said the food has been great,” Lt. Dennis Harris said.
“I realize that sometimes people want to go to jail because they are homeless, have nothing, they are destitute. I’ve seen that over the years. I just don’t get the impression that’s the reason. He just doesn’t want to be discovered by somebody.”
Now in his fourth week of incarceration, the man added another twist to the story recently by hinting he had business of some kind outside prison that he would need to attend to.
“He said there was a point at some time that he would need to get out of jail,” Harris said. “That’s the closest I can find of what he wants to do. And that makes no sense to me whatsoever.”
Not anyone I know. How about you?
Utah’s “obstructing” law, Utah Code §76-8-305, reads as follows:
Interference with arresting officer.
A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if he has knowledge, or by the exercise of reasonable care should have knowledge, that a peace officer is seeking to effect a lawful arrest or detention of that person or another and interferes with the arrest or detention by:
(1) use of force or any weapon;
(2) the arrested person’s refusal to perform any act required by lawful order:
(a) necessary to effect the arrest or detention; and
(b) made by a peace officer involved in the arrest or detention; or
(3) the arrested person’s or another person’s refusal to refrain from performing any act that would impede the arrest or detention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes
There you have it. It is a crime, but once he is sentenced for the Class B misdemeanor, the matter is done. They may not detain him longer than that.
This New Mexico man ID’d by his brother. Not reported is why, as in mental or criminal issues.
http://google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hXVhz3a0ZNngzt_6mCoKRCLw4plQ?docId=760aab42892341339779d22ebea6470f
If not being able to ID someone, is grounds for any extended stay in jail. Then all illegal immigrants would be locked up indefinitely. So A. they’ve racially profiled him not to be a foreigner. And B. violated his rights by detaining him beyond the allotted jail time, simply because he won’t give them the info they want. When they could easily label him as a John Doe (probably already have) and base all records on that. Apparently Big Brother no longer tolerates US citizens living under the radar. Will they be going after Big Foot next?
And why should we know? He is kept in jail because he does not want to tell the police who he is? What about the right to anonymity??? BTW, the trespassing issue? Bullshit! Get the meter!
Without the right pics and the numbers and the ID we are all now conditioned to think someone is alien to society a member of something different (!) and strange and threatening….what a 1984 situation.
Slaves!
The man i a mystery no more:
Courtesy of Boing Boing:
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52263401-78/harris-information-tips-county.html.csp
Steve Turley serves as the at-large councilman for the City of Provo, Utah. For those unfamiliar with Provo, Utah, it is the home of Brigham Young University and arguably the most Mormon city in the world!