Mayor Weighs in on the Speeding Ticket

Sometimes the best course in a controversy is to not say anything.

Mayor Kilpatrick's recent statements exemplifies why this is so.

Of the traffic stop where is Chief of Staff was pulled over for speeding he said "It sounds like a setup to me.". He then went on to say It's the biggest piece of crap," Kilpatrick said on the radio. "I was incredibly surprised that the Free Press would even write about it."

The Chief of Police also contributed a real morale-boosting line:

Bully-Cummings made [remarks] Wednesday that she believed the two officers recognized Beatty and stopped her to harass her. Beatty oversees the Police Department.

Bully-Cummings said she based her suspicions on a review of an in-car video, which she said shows the patrol car following Beatty longer than necessary and pulling alongside her car.

Bully-Cummings and other officials said that because of a technical glitch, there is no audio on the tape.

Both officers told the Free Press they did not recognize Beatty and were checking her license plate and speed. Their supervisor said he was surprised by the chief's and mayor's comments.

"I'm a little bit disappointed in what him and the chief have said. Being out there, I can guarantee anybody that what they said was the truth," Sgt. Robert Lalone said.

Lalone was called to the scene as Beatty phoned Bully-Cummings from her car. He arrived and talked to Beatty, who handed him the phone so he could talk to his chief. Lalone said she didn't tell him what to do, but he decided his officers didn't need the grief a ticket might bring..

This just gets curiouser and curioser.