Penis shuts down interstate

[randal7]

http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050524/NEWS01/50524006/1075


Suspicious package was fake foot-long plastic penis
By SARAH LUNDY
[email protected]
Published by news-press.com (http://www.news-press.com/) on May 24, 2005


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The “suspicious package” that caused Interstate 75 and Daniels Parkway to be shut for more than an hour Monday was not an explosive pipe bomb — but rather wrapped-up plastic foot-long penis.

“Someone took construction-grade plastic, molded it into a penis and wrapped it with duct tape,” said Lee County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante.

“They wrote ‘Happy Father’s Day’ on the duct tape.”

The device was first described by the sheriff’s office as a prosthetic penis. Later, it cops described it as a paper sculpture made to look like a penis.

"(The rumor that it was actually a vibrator) just took a life of it's own," said Cpl. Larry King.

Ferrante later spoke with a member of the bomb squad who described it in more detail.

“Somebody molded it to look like a penis,” Ferrante said. “It was not detected until the suspicious package was removed.”

A motorist called the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Monday shortly after 3 p.m. about a suspicious package on the side of the road under the northbound Interstate 75 overpass.

The cylinder was more than a foot long in a plastic bag and wrapped with duct tape. It looked like pipe bomb and was in a position that could cause structural damage.

Deputies arrived and alerted the bomb squad, which used a robot to disable the cylinder. The north- and southbound lanes of Intestate 75 were closed for about an hour between Alico Road and Colonial Boulevard. Traffic was blocked on Daniels Parkway at the overpass for an hour while the device was removed.

The closures left the heart of Lee County's road system without any vehicles as rush hour approached. After the drama ensued there were back-ups for about 15 minutes, but then traffic cleared to its normal levels.

I-75 is the main north-south artery in the region and Daniels is one of the major east-west corridor in south Fort Myers, connecting Gateway, Lehigh Acres and Southwest Florida International Airport with the region's retail power centers and tens of thousands of homes along the way.

[CraigSca]

Now...what kind of laws are broken when something like this happens? It would be nice if the state/county/community could fine the offender for the police work involved in the operation. Some civil suits would be nice as well (lost wages, etc). Is that possible?

[Raiders Army]

I-75 is the main north-south artery in the region

Interesting choice of words.

[rkmsuf]

They were obviously trying to make a homemade Whizzinator.

[albionmoonlight]

Now...what kind of laws are broken when something like this happens? It would be nice if the state/county/community could fine the offender for the police work involved in the operation. Some civil suits would be nice as well (lost wages, etc). Is that possible?
What if it just fell out of someone's truck? Would you still fine them? The same amount of police work would be done if it was left there by accident instead of on purpose.

If you say that the state of mind of the actor does not matter, then I see no reason to limit the theory of reimbursment to situations like this. You could say that every time we can trace the need to use police, fire, sanitation, etc. workers to an individual, that that individual needs to compensate the city. I don't think that that would be a really efficient or popular stance, but I suppose that there is nothing wrong with it.

If you say that the state of mind of the actor does matter, then this is really just a punishment. At that point, you should drop the illusion that this is somehow about reimbursing the city. It's about nothing more or less than the social statement that people who leave big fake penises on the side of the road on pupose should be punished. Personally, I don't really take much of a position on that either way.

[CraigSca]

What if it just fell out of someone's truck? Would you still fine them? The same amount of police work would be done if it was left there by accident instead of on purpose.

If you say that the state of mind of the actor does not matter, then I see no reason to limit the theory of reimbursment to situations like this. You could say that every time we can trace the need to use police, fire, sanitation, etc. workers to an individual, that that individual needs to compensate the city. I don't think that that would be a really efficient or popular stance, but I suppose that there is nothing wrong with it.

If you say that the state of mind of the actor does matter, then this is really just a punishment. At that point, you should drop the illusion that this is somehow about reimbursing the city. It's about nothing more or less than the social statement that people who leave big fake penises on the side of the road on pupose should be punished. Personally, I don't really take much of a position on that either way.
I'm saying this only in cases where there is malicious intent. Obviously that would be hard to prove.

This really is open-ended...I'm also for fining people who decide to climb Mt. So-and-so despite inclement weather and then people need to risk their lives to save them. It's one thing to be unfortunate and have an accident on the freeway, it's another thing entirely to put yourself in a situation where an expensive rescue is needed.

[sabotai]

Now...what kind of laws are broken when something like this happens?
Littering?

[rkmsuf]

wouldn't it be fake penis shuts down interstate?

[DeToxRox]

That's awesome. At a hockey game of ours someone threw an inflatable penis on the ice. Good times.

[randal7]

wouldn't it be fake penis shuts down interstate?
While perhaps more accurate, that title is less interesting.

[AZSpeechCoach]

I just like the fact that somebody had written "Happy Father's Day" on the tape. I'm not sure what message that would be sending to dear old Dad.

[Greyroofoo]

how come I never got this article when I do my regular penis+interstate googles?