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-Short Attention Span Theater-

In Maine police end a messy situation

2004-06-04

A Portland woman has been banned from Deering Oaks park after being charged with spreading dog feces there as part of a vendetta against the parkâs weekly farmerâs market. Lora Leland, 53, of Sherman Street was caught in the middle of the night emptying 16 bags of dog feces in the road that winds through the center of the park, police said. She explained that she was angry at the Saturday morning farmerâs market because it interfered with her ability to ride her bicycle through the park, police said.

Cuz, it's her park, don't ya know

Now, Leland must appear in court on a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief and has been served a criminal trespass order barring her from the park for a year. She faces as much as a year in jail, though authorities say she is more likely to be fined. Leland could not be reached Tuesday for comment. Farmers greeted the news of her arrest with cheers after arriving to the mess every Saturday for the better part of three summers. "When the farmers came in to set up, they just had to clean up the whole road," said Officer Dan Knight, who along with Officer Karl Geib staked out the park Friday into Saturday in an effort to apprehend the culprit.

Operation Dog Poo

At 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the officers saw a woman walking a small dog down the middle of the parkâs interior road. The woman was reaching into a large plastic shopping bag, removing smaller bags that she would open and then dump the contents onto the roadway, Knight said. Confronted by the officers, Leland said she was angry at the farmerâs market, police said. "She told us that she doesnât like that they take up that whole road because she canât ride her bike there," Knight said. The woman said she would collect the small baggies with dog feces from trash cans around the park over the course of the preceding week and stockpile it from her own dog, then spread it to disrupt the market, police said.
I picture her a Che-like blindfolded execution. Facing her is a large industrial fan, a shovel and the excrement of a corn-fed pachiderm of some sort.
Marie Davis, who works for Portlandâs Parks and Recreation Department, said the recurring feces was a nuisance that would have to be cleaned up before the market opened for business. "I know it was nasty and it was enough so it was pretty offensive," she said. Larry Bruns of Hanson Field Flower Farm , an organizer of the market, said the piles were there every Saturday for three years or more and each farmer was responsible for cleaning in front of their area. "Itâs kind of sad someone feels they have to do that," he said. "We donât really know what problems the woman had or why she was doing it."
It would be fitting to appoint her as the park-wide scooper for a three year hitch.
Leland told the officers that she expected her ticket would be expensive, but became angry when they arrested her instead of simply issuing a summons and took her to the Cumberland County Jail. She was released on bail pending a court appearance. Police suspected Leland, Knight said. Some farm workers arrived early one weekend and confronted her, and she responded by brandishing pepper spray, he said.
Brandishing pepper spray at farmers is not advised as they often have plenty of peppers to pelt you with.

Posted by:Super Hose

#2 It would be fitting to appoint her as the park-wide scooper for a three year hitch.

Plus, make her clean the farmer's market area before and afterwards.

Posted by: Pappy 2004-06-04 10:22:31 PM

#1 She collected and distributed dog dew for three years as a hobby, but had no effect towards her actual goal. Do you think that she was a former member of SDS?

Posted by: Super Hose 2004-06-04 5:00:44 PM

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