Santa Gets Arrested

When we got back from our first cruise to PR, I had some extra money from card dealing, so I looked for a used car. 

I found an early 60’s Plymouth and bought it.

The car needed tires, so I took it to a tire shop, and bought a set of better tires. I couldn’t afford new ones, so better was good enough. 

After getting the tires mounted on the car, I pulled out of the gravel parking lot and wanted to see how the new tires worked. I hit the gas, got the tires spinning in the gravel and when I hit the pavement of the street, I got a satisfying chirp as I burned rubber. 

Unfortunately, there was a Connecticut State Trooper nearby, heard me peal out, and pulled me over. No matter how much I tried to explain about gravel, new tires, and new-to-me car, he still wrote me up.

In The Papers

A couple of days later, the weapons officer called me into his office. I was scared shitless, because I had never even seen Weaps, as he was known (not to his face).

He asked me about an article in the local newspaper stating that Santa Claus had been arrested in town. It stated that I was arrested for excessive noise and unsafe movement. It went on to say the excessive noise was not the sound of Jingling Bells, but squealing tires on the pavement. The unsafe movement was not me on a rooftop by a chimney but was my Plymouth spinning out in the gravel parking lot.  

I was pissed that they said I was arrested, but the rest of it was cute.  

Weaps asked me if it was true, and I replied yes, I got a ticket for those things, but I was not arrested. I asked to speak to the Legal officer on board. I got an appointment with him and laid out my case about not being arrested. He said he would check.

I told him I would like to sue the police officer and the reporter for the “arrest" statement.

A couple of days later the legal officer called me back into his office and gave me the bad news. According to Connecticut state law, when a person is pulled over and stopped by an officer, that person is considered to have been arrested. Once the ticket is given to the driver, they are considered released under their own recognizance. 

I did have the last laugh, though...  

Again, the Navy PR department came to my aid.  Some one at Cypress Gardens in Florida, read the article and called the Navy PR Office about bringing me down to Florida for a PR tour promoting Santa in the Navy.  More about that later. 

I drove that Plymouth for another year and sold it to another sailor from the Fulton.  I bought a Chevy Corvair Monza Spyder as my next car. 

It was pretty sporty, and had lots of power. It also was my first four-on-the-floor with bucket seats.

You talk about burning rubber, that car really could. I was just a lot more cautious about looking for cops.