Keene Police Take Car Off Private Property

by | Apr 12, 2009 | 25 comments

**Please see [Read More] for the answer to this question from Lt Maxfield**

Why, on April 12, 2009, did the Keene Police take this car off a private driveway? Was this an unwelcome visitor to this property? Was there an issue with the owner’s temporary license plates? Was there “contraband” found inside the vehicle? It should also be noted that the car was driven to the flatbed, so the police had the car’s keys as well.

Nick,

OK, I’m going to “address your concerns.”

(more…)

Jesse Arrested While Attempting Public Garden

by | Apr 11, 2009 | 28 comments

In an act of civil disobedience in response to a recent City Council decision to grant $5000 to a private organization for a food co-op study, Jesse attempts to start another public food source in downtown Keene. He was planning to till and supplement the soil downtown into land he could plant vegetable seeds in. Jesse says he did not want money or any other compensation for his work. He just wanted the public to have access to a garden. You can read about Jesse’s plan in his own words on this recent FreeKeene post.

Fifteen to twenty minutes after Jesse arrives downtown, Lt. Shane Maxfield interferes with Jesse’s work and arrests him. Jesse is booked at the police station, and released with a $120 ticket for violation of:

Sec. 82-32. Excavations.
(a) No person(s), company, corporation, or any other entity shall excavate or otherwise disturb any surface (shoulders, ditches, embankments, swales, pavement, etc.) of any city street, highway, sidewalk, right-of-way or city owned property without consent of the public works department. Any person(s), company, corporation, or any other entity shall restore such excavation or disturbance to a condition as good as before the excavation or disturbance occurred with the expense of such restoration to be assumed by such person(s), company, corporation, or entity. The work of excavation, disturbance, removal and restoration of the surface shall in all such cases be done under the supervision of the public works director or designee.

As reported by FreeKeene’s Ian, Jesse says he will not consent to any fines, and will take the issue into the court.

AnarchoJesse Arrested for Illegal Gardening!

by | Apr 11, 2009 | 20 comments

This morning, Free Keene blogger AnarchoJesse was arrested for “Excavating without a permit” as he was working on creating a community garden at Keene’s Central Square park. Activists were on-scene with video cameras. Look for a more detailed Ryder Report later, but here is the initial live footage of him tilling the land prior to the police arriving and his subsequent arrest. He was booked and released with a complaint demanding he “answer” it by May 12th. It sounds like he’ll be taking this to trial and refusing to pay any fines.

Tilling the land prior to police arriving:

Arrested:

Keene Police SUV in Collision

by | Apr 10, 2009 | 10 comments

Somewhere between 7-8pm on Friday, April 10, a Keene Police SUV was in an accident with a second vehicle. The incident near Emerald Street in Keene caused the police SUV to roll over, spilling it’s contents across the road. Seat cushions, medical kits, jumper cables, and baby wipes were across School Street. After the crash, the SUV was parked on the left side of School Street near Ocean Bank, while the second vehicle stopped on the corner of Emerald St. and School St, facing into the curb with heavy frontal damage.

I asked the driver of the SUV, Lt. Peter Thomas and nearby Officer Matt Griffin for a story, they both told me “no comment.” Asking for comments from other officers produced nearly the same results. The only further response I got was from Sargent Darusso, who told me he couldn’t comment now and would be out with a press release when his investigation is complete.