Do the Hokey, Go To The Pokey: New York Couple Arrested For Dancing At Subway Station

This dangerous looking Bonnie and Clyde couple has finally been nabbed by the police in New York City. Caroline Stern, a dentist, and George Hess, a movie prop master, were returning from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night’s Swing when they decided to cut loose at the Columbus Circle station. They danced. That’s right. Right in front of drug dealers, purse snatchers, and assorted felons, they danced. Thankfully, they were promptly arrested and the New York subway system was able to return to its joyless natural state.

The arrest occurred last year when they began dancing the Charleston as a musician played the steel drums. Police immediately demanded to know what they were doing. While they appear to have missed the greatest straight line and say “the Charleston,” the couple explained that they were dancing. The shocked New York officers informed them that the Burgermeister Meisterburger had prohibited dancing at the station. After all, how can a person be expected to score a coke deal with a middle-aged couple doing the Charleston on the platform?

Now here is the interesting part, when Hess pulled out his camera to record the bizarre incident, the officers reportedly got aggressive and called for backup. (Too bad he did not have the new ACLU App). The couple claims that Hess, 54, was tackled by officers.

They were both charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct for ‘impeding the flow of traffic.” (It is a good thing that they were not doing the Fox-Trot or they would have been charged with cruelty to animals).

It is an all too familiar pattern that we have seen with citizens who film police. The charges were later dropped — another common aspect of these cases. Another common element is the total lack of discipline for the officers in bringing such charges or investigation into whether the confrontation was triggered by a citizen exercising his first amendment right to film police.

Source: Daily Mail