Rosa Cromwell took the dog for a walk and ended up in a bizarre confrontation over poop.
When it was over, the cops were called and a lawyer consulted.
"That guy scared the hell out of my wife," Robert Cromwell said of the man who confronted Rosa in the park. He considered suing but decided "it wasn't worth my effort."
Instead, Robert, a retired FBI agent, wrote a letter to the editor of the weekly Gulfport Gabber, warning everyone to "Watch out for Gulfport's Poop Police."
Here's the full text.
Lane DeGregory, Times staff writer
Dear Editor: Earlier this week, my wife took Callie, our son's Border Collie/Retriever, for an early-afternoon walk in Wood Ibis Park. I take Callie out each morning. She's a fairly "regular" dog. She does her business in the morning and occasionally in the evening. So my wife was surprised when Callie squatted and relieved herself in the afternoon. Not expecting that sort of action from Callie, my wife had no bag. So she walked to the bag station near the 27th Avenue entrance to the park to retrieve one. As she walked towards the bag station, Callie pulled to indicate someone's approach. My wife moved to the side, noticing what appeared to be a jogger coming from behind.
A middle-aged man came quickly towards her with a bare hand full of dog poop. He initially had it out in front of him, palm up, but as he approached he moved his hand into what appeared to be a throwing position and yelled, "You forgot something!" She tried to tell the man she was going to retrieve a bag and he yelled, "You're a liar." She simply could not calm the man as he continued in his threatening behavior by circling her, shouting and waving his hand full of dog poop.
Shortly thereafter, I learned of the incident and approached the man's backyard on my bicycle. I observed the man described by my wife and said, "Excuse me. I understand you had a disagreement with my wife." He came over, clearly angry and stated if I could be quiet for a minute and listen he would tell me what happened. He then explained that someone had let their dog loose in the park and it had pooped on his lawn. He had called the police and they came and gave the man a ticket for his dog trespassing. (Not sure what that had to do with me.) He went on to say he saw my wife walk away after her dog pooped in the park so he picked it up to take it to her. He added, "She said she was going to get a bag, but I think she's a liar." I advised the man never to go anywhere near my wife again and went home to call the Gulfport Police.
A Gulfport officer responded and was advised of the incident. I told him, in my opinion, an assault had occurred. He did not agree and said no crime had occurred.
To constitute an assault you must also have the apparent ability to commit that violence and create a well founded fear in the other person. My wife thought she was about to have dog poop thrown on her.
The officer subsequently visited the man and thereafter called my wife to tell her that he said he should have waited to see if she was going to get a bag.
People walking their dogs in the park should certainly pick up their dogs' poop. And, if you're walking your dog and run into the Gulfport Poop Policeman, make sure you have your poop bag ready and, for your health's sake, don't shake his hand.
Robert Cromwell
Word for Word is an occasional feature excerpting passages of interest from books, magazines, Web sites and other sources. The text may be edited for space but the original spelling, grammar and punctuation are unchanged.
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