Anti-tax activist Drolet arrested for illegal pig-parking

This is no joke …

Anti-tax activist and former state rep Leon Drolet was arrested Tuesday after a cop pulled him over for allegedly weaving while driving on Hall Road. He was then arrested for an outstanding warrant dating back to 2010 for “vehicular trespassing.”

Drolet was hauled off to jail by the Shelby Township cops, booked, fingerprinted, and handcuffed to a pole until his pal, Joe Munem, scrounged up $200 for his bail.

The reason for this treatment by law enforcement? During his 2010 state Senate race he apparently did not park Mr. Perks -- his giant fiberglass pink pig, which is hauled from place to place on a trailer -- properly outside of his campaign headquarters.

Located in a shopping strip not far from today’s infamous brush with the law, the headquarters has a parking lot that flows into a Costco parking area. The cop at the time apparently decided that an illegal parking ticket was not sufficient. Drolet’s side-kick, Mr. Perks, had his bacon hanging out in such a way that trespassing was the charge.

Here is the semi-confession offered by Drolet on Facebook:

“I just was released from jail! I was pulled over for ‘weaving’ on the road this morning, and the officer informed me there is a warrant out for my arrest for an outstanding ‘vehicular trespassing’ crime. The crime? During the last weeks of 2010 state senate primary campaign, my campaign prop - a giant pig statue named 'Mr. Perks- was ticked for being parked in a strip mall parking lot. I lost that campaign and went to Arizona to run a state-wide initiative (forgetting about the pig porking violation). So an arrest warrant was issued!

 

“The officer searched me, handcuffed me, put me in the cruiser and hauled me off to the Shelby Township police station where I was fingerprinted, had mug shots taken, my phone and cash put in a bag marked 'Evidence' and I was handcuffed to a post for about 10 minutes until my friend Joseph Munem arrived with $200 to bail me out. All for a glorified pig parking (I mean 'porking') ticket! Doesn't that sound a bit heavy ham-ded to you?”

After spending some time in the pokey, Drolet may be determined to take the case to trial. But his only material witness is the pig – a case so weak that it’s enough to make a judge snort.

What’s worse, Drolet and Munem and another possible partner in crime, state Rep. Pete Lund, were headed to a fantasy football draft at the time that they were pulled over. Could an illegal gambling charge be very far behind?

In any event, it’s hard to see how Drolet, the leader of the Michigan Taxpayer’s Alliance, gets out of this mudbath unscathed. Can he save his bacon? Can the flamboyant political veteran make an impassioned case in court that proves his innocence beyond a reasonable snout -- uh, doubt?

Or will he become just another one of those right-wing Republicans with a criminal record?

Stay tuned.

btw: Here was Munem's reaction to this incident: "I've been getting politicians out of jail for so long that today I'm officially considered a bail bondsman."