John Leopold and the 911 call
Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold is at the center of what will surely rank as one of the stranger political stories of 2009. The Sun's Julie Scharper reports in Wednesday's paper that Arundel police plan to release a 911 tape in which a caller complains of seeing someone engaging in sexual acts in a car outside of a county mall. Police responded to the scene and found the black Chevy in question, which, it turned out, was Leopold's county car.
A Leopold spokesman says police found the complaint to be unwarranted, and no charges were filed.
Leopold was in the car, but no word on whether anybody else was there, or what he was doing hanging out in the parking lot. Rumors about the 911 call have been spreading like wildfire in the state's political community, so this surely won't be the last we hear of it. Check back for updates as we get them.
Update: Leopold just released a statement via spokesman Dave Abrams:
"As a public official it is unfortunate to have to respond to rumors and gossip. I have been asked to respond to an allegation from an anonymous caller that was found to have no merit. The police acted within minutes and found absolutely nothing improper. I will not dignify this matter with further comment."
Update II: Julie Scharper has more from the police, but not much more. Here's what they're saying:
According to the recording and records supplied by police, the call was placed at 5:37 p.m. Jan. 30. An officer arrived in the area two minutes later, drove past the black Chevrolet and was directed to turn around. The officer stopped by the county executive's car seven minutes after the call was received.The officer tells the dispatcher that the county executive was in the back seat of the car, but does not mention whether another person was present.
[Police spokesman Justin] Mulcahy declined to say if there had been another person in the car with Leopold, but said, "Our officers only made contact with the county executive."
I'm sure they want that to be the end of it, but I suspect they're going to face pressure to answer more questions, like was Leopold alone, and what was he doing hanging out in the back seat of his car in the Nordstrom parking lot at 5:37 in the afternoon? I imagine it's not unusual for Leopold to be in the back seat -- county executives usually have drivers/security guards. But if that's the explanation, where was the driver?
More new details: The Annapolis Capital got Leopold on the phone and has a few new bits of information. (Note: Their story has some information attributed to anonymous sources that we can't vouch for.) The paper reports:
Leopold, who is unmarried, said that he was in the Nordstrom parking lot because he's a frequent patron of the department store and buys his suits, shoes and sweaters there. He wasn't doing anything improper when the police arrived, he said."I was just sitting there. I don't know the exact duration," he said.
He declined to answer questions about whether anyone was with him or if he talked to the police officer. Nor would he answer questions about what he was doing moments before police arrived.
"I don't want to talk about this. I'll answer your questions later at another time. If I think it's necessary," he said before hanging up the phone.
The Capital also quotes Leopold as saying that he did not try to influence the police in its handling of the matter.
Comments
The caller is another Leopold detractor who believes that Leopold is always screwing the public.
Posted by: john f. Johnston | February 11, 2009 11:23 AM
He's screwing somebody alright
Posted by: Somebody | February 11, 2009 12:14 PM
Does anyone think it's strange that when the police arrived at Leopold's car, they found him in the BACK SEAT. I think Mr. Leopold has skeletons in his closet and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out what they are.
Posted by: Mark | February 11, 2009 1:49 PM
Maybe we all just mis-understood what he was doing while he was standing by Ritchie Highway waving with a big smile on his face ?
Posted by: aaco voter | February 11, 2009 2:13 PM
Why? What's the big deal? From the state government to the county government someone is getting screwed.
Posted by: Ted Caldwell | February 11, 2009 2:32 PM
It's not strange to find him in the back seat. He conducts legitimate Co. Exec business from his car all the time, and often from the back seat. Something is strange about all this though. I don't know him well, but I don't think he's dumb enough to be doing something blatently inappropriate in the middle of such a busy parking lot at such a busy time.
Posted by: Tom | February 11, 2009 3:03 PM
that police officer should be charged with neglect of duty,he knew that there was a important person in that car and he tryed to drive by it,had that person been black he would have arrested the occupants of that car. and mentioned the names of both..this is why people dont trust police officers,or politicians...do you ?they always tell you get involved when you see a crime report it,this credible witness reported it and that police officer neglected his duty,,and should be charged,and the police know it
Posted by: johnn | February 11, 2009 10:55 PM
This man should be left alone. He is a bright spot in MD politics when compared with some of the hacks who serve in state Government. He would not have been singled out for such innuendo and possible gossip if he were a Democrat.
Anne Arundel should be thankful that we have him!
Posted by: Stan from Anne Arundel | February 12, 2009 6:15 AM
Wow--I know John, he is a bit eccentric, he is unmarried but he had (s) a girlfriend, and she and her daughter at that time, lived with him. I dont believe anything was going on then him taking some downtime in the car as he is known to do, he somewhat of an insomniac and as such it is no surprise he was probably tired and was sitting there besides he is tall, and an impala is too small for him and somebody else to be doing anything, especially in the back seat---GIVE HIM A BREAK PEOPLE
Posted by: Rob | February 12, 2009 1:02 PM
Who was he with? A subordinate? How did the cops know he wasn't being assaulted or that he wasn't assaulting someone? What were the cops saying to each other on their radios? What's the whole story?
Posted by: Jan | February 13, 2009 6:04 PM
I think if it had been anyone else the police officer that responded would have immediately knocked on the car window. Another example of how the public officials do what they want and even if they do get caught nothing happens.
Posted by: Linda | February 14, 2009 8:44 PM
Poor Judgement for the Use of 911
911 is for life or death emergency--NOT for reporting "suspected" sexual activity among two consenting adults if you don't hear screams for help.
The Anne Arundel County Executive, just like the President of the United States and people serving in the military are on duty 24 hours a day. Their workday does not end at 5 PM; their calendar of after-hours events and obligations would likely boggle the mind of most average citizens. They are human just like the rest of us and they have a right to a personal life.
This appears to be some kind of political witch hunt and quite frankly I'm sick of the County Council and Mr. Middlebrooks use of this venue for pursuit of a personal vendetta.
Doth Mr. Middlebrooks protest too much? What is REALLY behind this "exposure"?
Let the police chief get back to work. I've noticed a much improved response time from AA County officers since Chief Teare took charge. With Mr. Leopold at the helm of AA County Government I've become aware of many improvements and would vote for him again today or tomorrow. His off-duty sexual activity is none of my business--he has a right to some personal time and as one article said, if that information was correct, the vehicles were parked far away from "pedestrian traffic".
I'm a female and once sat in the car of another county's MALE State's attorney in a shopping center parking lot--you might be surprised to learn it was because I was discussing criminal activity with him--there was NO sexual activity involved, however, I'm certain if the person I was disclosing to the law enforcement officer had known I was there, he might have attempted a false call to 911 to report "suspicious activity", as well.
Posted by: JE Simms | March 7, 2009 12:17 AM
Fist of all, why DIDN'T the cop stop right away? As one poster somewhat stated, the caller THOUGHT he saw sexual activity going on, but Leopold could have been in some kind of trouble.
Second, the comments about if he were a Democrat and not a Republican than he would be left alone regarding this incident are STUPID. Both parties, and supporters and members of both parties, get their digs into each other wherever and whenever they can.
Third, it would be very imprudent for anyone to be screwing around in the backseat of a car in a busy mall parking lot, so let's hope that's not what our county exec was doing.
Finally, if that was what Leopold was doing, you betcha they're trying to cover it up.
Posted by: vickie | March 8, 2009 10:35 AM
Response to the comment below: WHAT? If someone is doing something wrong (and I'm not saying he was), then it doesn't & shouldn't matter whatsoever if "he's a bright spot in MD politics...". Politicians ARE NOT above the law (again, I'm not saying any any law was broken - I simply take great offense at someone thinking that Leopold should be left alone just because THEY think he's a "bright spot" and we "should be thankful we've got him".
***************
"This man should be left alone. He is a bright spot in MD politics when compared with some of the hacks who serve in state Government. He would not have been singled out for such innuendo and possible gossip if he were a Democrat.
Anne Arundel should be thankful that we have him!"
Posted by: vickie | March 26, 2009 4:19 PM
Did the person who called 911 continue watching the car until the police arrived, as anyone witnessing something "bad" enough to call 911 would do? If so, did the witness see anyone entering or exiting the car? Come on. This all sounds bogus.
Posted by: marie | May 11, 2009 6:26 PM