Marine
02-05-2003, 4:25pm
Kafka could have written this.
But more likely Seinfeld.
It's the story of Raymond Gillin, 24, a Pizza Hut manager from Deptford, now haunted by the ghost of Robert E. Lee.
On Jan. 14, Gillin was riding in a friend's car when Gloucester Township police pulled the car over. Asked for ID, Gillin handed over the only things he had: his Sam's Club membership and Social Security cards.
The officer radioed in, then ordered Gillin out of the car and cuffed him: He was wanted in Deptford.
Gillin, whose friend posted $100 bond, says he was mystified when officers mentioned "Township Ordinance 36A-1." It wasn't until the next day that he understood what that was: failure to return library materials.
Then it dawned on him: Robert E. Lee. Gillin had borrowed two books about the Confederate general from the township's Johnson Memorial Library while a student at Deptford Township High School.
In the mid-1990s.
Busted for overdue books? Not exactly.
Deptford had been after Gillin for some time, Township Manager Joe Picardi says. On April 19, 1996, long after the books were due, Gillin was sent a summons. When the 17-year-old failed to appear in court a month later, he was charged with contempt of court, and a bench warrant was issued. Until the traffic stop three weeks ago, the warrant sat in the police computer.
Gillin says he never was contacted by the court or the library. He says he believes the books were destroyed in a house fire, along with his family's mail and important papers.
Adding to the confusion, the library doesn't know the books' titles or when they were borrowed because the transaction predates its computer records, says Picardi, answering on behalf of library administrators. At 7 cents a book per day since the date of the bench warrant, the fine is $343.
Gillin says that as a single father, he doesn't have that kind of money. Besides, "it's silly," he says of the prosecution. "I think it should be thrown out on account of the statute of limitations."
Mount Holly lawyer George T. Kotch yesterday agreed to represent Gillin, who is due in court on Feb. 19.
If Gillin is found guilty, sentencing will be at the judge's discretion, Picardi says.
In other words, Gillin could have the book thrown at him.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/5106558.htm
But more likely Seinfeld.
It's the story of Raymond Gillin, 24, a Pizza Hut manager from Deptford, now haunted by the ghost of Robert E. Lee.
On Jan. 14, Gillin was riding in a friend's car when Gloucester Township police pulled the car over. Asked for ID, Gillin handed over the only things he had: his Sam's Club membership and Social Security cards.
The officer radioed in, then ordered Gillin out of the car and cuffed him: He was wanted in Deptford.
Gillin, whose friend posted $100 bond, says he was mystified when officers mentioned "Township Ordinance 36A-1." It wasn't until the next day that he understood what that was: failure to return library materials.
Then it dawned on him: Robert E. Lee. Gillin had borrowed two books about the Confederate general from the township's Johnson Memorial Library while a student at Deptford Township High School.
In the mid-1990s.
Busted for overdue books? Not exactly.
Deptford had been after Gillin for some time, Township Manager Joe Picardi says. On April 19, 1996, long after the books were due, Gillin was sent a summons. When the 17-year-old failed to appear in court a month later, he was charged with contempt of court, and a bench warrant was issued. Until the traffic stop three weeks ago, the warrant sat in the police computer.
Gillin says he never was contacted by the court or the library. He says he believes the books were destroyed in a house fire, along with his family's mail and important papers.
Adding to the confusion, the library doesn't know the books' titles or when they were borrowed because the transaction predates its computer records, says Picardi, answering on behalf of library administrators. At 7 cents a book per day since the date of the bench warrant, the fine is $343.
Gillin says that as a single father, he doesn't have that kind of money. Besides, "it's silly," he says of the prosecution. "I think it should be thrown out on account of the statute of limitations."
Mount Holly lawyer George T. Kotch yesterday agreed to represent Gillin, who is due in court on Feb. 19.
If Gillin is found guilty, sentencing will be at the judge's discretion, Picardi says.
In other words, Gillin could have the book thrown at him.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/5106558.htm