I spent the Thursday night before EVO 2010 in a Las Vegas city jail.
I had just got to Vegas, and I wanted a sandwich. I remember there was a grocery store next to the Rio from my trip before (this was my 3rd evo), and since I was trying to save money, I decided to walk there with a friend from MD/VA.
I’m walking up Flamingo ave, and the street is totally empty… except a police cruiser rolling down.
He gets on his intercom and orders “Turn around.” I stop and ask him why.
He says through the intercom “Turn around and proceed in the other direction” I again ask why when I’m just walking.
He then barks “Turn around or I’ll arrest you”. I ask why should he arrest me when I’ve done nothing wrong.
He then pulls over to me, slaps the cuffs on me and puts me in the cruiser. Turns out Obama was in town, and they were closing roads spontaneously. Why they couldn’t just tell me that, I don’t know. Apparently I seemed like a terrorist or something. My friend bailed when the cop got out of the car, smartly.
I was thinking the entire time that they were going to see how silly this was, and just let me go. I was wrong.
For a ticket level offense (“obstruct/delay police”) I had to spend about 13 hours overnight in the City Jail, most of it with cuffs on. I remember clearly how many “lebron is going to miami” espn stories they repeated. I got my mug shot, fingerprints, and questioned. Didn’t really get a phone call, but who was I gonna call in Vegas? They said I was going to be released on my own recognizance but were waiting on paperwork. That paperwork took all night. I missed the EVO VIP/Judges party with food/booze and shit.
I spent the night in a holding cell with a bevy of other criminals. There wasn’t enough room for all of us to sit on the wooden benches, so some had to sit on the concrete floor. Some guys had some interesting stories, like the 70 year old bellhop whose blood would make a interesting pharmacological study. Or the guy who was arrested in his swimming trunks because of his outstanding warrant for tax evasion. The night was made somewhat humorous by the gay boy who had to get thrown in the cell b/c he had a tantrum screaming: “I’d rather die than go in there!”. It’s a city jail, not the state pen, dipshit. Prisoners have to warm up to you before the anal rape starts.
I tried to sleep on the concrete floor, but was largely unsuccessful. The holding cell stank of caked sweat and old men. I had just missed the meal at 4pm, so around 12 hours later I was famished when they served “breakfast”, which consisted of a stale croissant, a kindergarten milk, and some sorta of sausage/grits gruel like substance. I traded my gruel for an extra milk and had the tastiest stale croissant ever.
Around 530 AM, they started the release process. We went to another cell and waited on our clothing and items to be returned. Then waited in another cell while they gave everyone their court dates. Then we waited in another line for our personal items and to be let out of the jail to our own devices.
I left the jail to a pleasantly warm and bright morning. To my immediate right was the familiar sight of the Golden Nugget!I laughed when I thought of Balrog street fighting mere steps from the Jail. I caught a city bus back to the Strip and woke up my friends from MD/VA. They called my Renegade Cody for a little while. I took a much needed shower.
That morning, I ended up judging a TvC pool because a judge went missing. During the afternoon session, I judged my SSF4 pool as well. I still had not slept from the day before. I got completely shellacked by Dagger G on the stream even as Seth Killian was commentating to America that I thought the Guile/Rose match was favorable. I managed to finish running my SSF4 pool among the fastest there. Big props to Sanchez for helping me out when I completely lost my voice. That night, I hung out in the Salty Suite for a bit, and eventually that weekend helped NerdJosh and LIJoe pick up some young and thankfully not too bright ladies.
But that is another story…
-Robin “Renegade” Palm
PS: I wrote a letter to the judge explaining why I couldn’t come back to Vegas in September for my court case. Luckily, My case was never brought up by the state’s attorney, so I never had to appear back in Vegas for court. I figured 13 hours in jail is more than enough punishment for a 150$ ticket.
My arrest record for proof!
http://www.whosarrested.com/nevada/clark-county/las-vegas/ccdc/119120-robin-a-palm
