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..dem seh got arrested lasss nite and spent 60 minutes in police custody. A deh it deh now..stay tuned.
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
yu gotta be kiddin [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] -
Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
No G2, I kid you not.
Mike cuffed on dinner run
No TLC for CBS' tough-talking Wallace
BY JONATHAN LEMIRE and TONY SCLAFANI
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Mike Wallace
No-nonsense TV newsman Mike Wallace's tough questions got him arrested in Manhattan last night when he asked two taxi cops why they were grilling his limousine driver, sources and witnesses said.
The legendary 60 Minutes reporter was spun against his black Lincoln Town Car, handcuffed behind his back and shoved into a Taxi and Limousine Commission car during the heated confrontation on Third Ave. at 79th St.
"I'm 86 years old! I'm 86 years old!" Wallace shouted, according to witnesses.
"What are you doing? I'm a reporter, not a criminal," he protested.
The two TLC agents emptied Wallace's pockets before hauling him off to the 19th Precinct stationhouse, where he was slapped with a disorderly conduct summons and released.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the two TLC cops knew they were tangling with a renowned newsman who has been a TV mainstay since the 1950s.
Wallace couldn't be reached for comment, but CBS News said in a statement released to Channel 2, "Mike is at home, and he is fine."
The bizarre incident unfolded about 8 p.m, when Wallace ran into Luke's Bar and Grill to pick up an order of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy he had called ahead for, said the joint's owner, Luigi Militello, 46.
Meanwhile, the two TLC officers started questioning Wallace's driver, who was double-parked.
Wallace was alerted to the situation, left Luke's and demanded, "What's going on?"
"One of the officers yelled at him, 'Don't give me any lip!'" Militello said.
"Then, Mr. Wallace said, 'I'm not giving you any lip.'"
Wallace stepped into his limo for a moment, then returned to pepper the officers with more questions. "The cop said, 'Get back into your car, sir,' in a very nasty tone of voice," said Ernesto Cavalli, manager of the nearby Due restaurant and a friend of Wallace's.
"I could tell Mr. Wallace was taken aback by his tone so he asked another question," Cavalli said.
But before he knew it, Wallace, dressed in a button-down shirt, slacks and a cap, was being manhandled by one officer, Cavalli said.
"He grabbed him by the sleeve, pushed him forward against the car and twisted his arms behind his back, all while yelling, 'I'm going to arrest you!'" Cavalli said.
But Wallace fought back - with words.
"I'm 86 years old! I'm 86 years old! What are you doing? I'm a reporter, not a criminal," Cavalli recalled Wallace shouting.
"He was stunned. He had this look on his face like, 'What's happening to me?'" Cavalli said.
One of the officers even threatened to arrest some of the restaurant customers who spoke up in defense of Wallace, who is a regular at both Luke's and Due.
"He didn't do anything wrong! Leave him home!" patrons cried.
"But [the TLC agents] didn't stop," Militello said.
Militello said Wallace later called him to say he was okay, and at home finally enjoying the meatloaf dinner.
A TLC spokesman did not return several calls for comment last night.
From reporting news to becoming the story
Mike Wallace isn't the first high-profile journalist to run into trouble on New York's mean streets. Here are some infamous incidents:
In 1986, CBS anchor Dan Rather was beaten by a wacko attacker on Park Avenue. Police said William Tager, 49, came at Rather with a stream of near-gibberish that included the question "What's the frequency?" and a word the newsman told cops sounded like the name "Kenneth." When Rather sought refuge in a building lobby, he was struck from behind, knocked down and repeatedly kicked in the neck and kidneys.
In 1994, Tager was identified as the man who fatally shot an NBC technician outside the "Today" show studios.
In March, an unemployed Staten Island computer technician was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw in a flurry of E-mails.
Last year, CNN anchor Jack Cafferty pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after hitting a bicyclist in midtown. The bicyclist suffered minor injuries. Cafferty was ordered to pay a $250 fine and perform 70 hours of community service.
Leo Standora
Originally published on August 11, 2004
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
This is what they do, threaten people and abuse their constitutional rights to free speech forcing them to "clam up." I hope the judge throw the books at these eediats when the case comes up in October. Wish I could be present fort this one. ooooohhhhh!!One of the officers even threatened to arrest some of the restaurant customers who spoke up in defense of Wallace, who is a regular at both Luke's and Due.
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
LOL wtg Mike!! Still got some fire in ya loins at your age, good for you!!Comment
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
Sometimes things like these happens so that these people see what ordinary folks have to deal with on a daily basis.
Does anyone think this is the forst time these to officers has dione this or it is done as an exception and not a practice?Comment
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
The TLC inspectors saw it another way, saying Wallace approached the inspectors and became "overly assertive and disrespectful," interfering with their ability to perform their duty.
That's the other side.
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
a guess him nevah want him drivah get nuh ticket...
him can barely stand up....guh see him a ruff up the police dem....
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
Mike Wallace is just
tip of TLC iceberg
Inspectors are often arrogant and abusive,
says a cabbies' lawyer
By DAN ACKMAN
The bizarre run-in between Mike Wallace and Taxi & Limousine Commission inspectors - which led to the arrest for disorderly conduct of an 86-year-old man armed only with a meatloaf - is unique in its particulars. But it is hardly out of character for the TLC.
TLC inspectors operate in a culture of lawlessness, which in recent years has started at the very top of the agency. They tend to be hypervigilant in enforcing TLC's rules but untrained in the law and the Constitution, not to mention manners and good sense.
While the case against Wallace is likely to be dropped - or laughed out of court - taxi drivers are rarely so lucky. When they encounter a TLC inspector, they can be ticketed for a variety of alleged misdeeds, anything from failure to fill out a trip sheet to "failure to cooperate" to unspecified "acts against the best interest of the public."
Drivers face fines or even the revocation of their licenses - the basis for their livelihoods - often solely on the word of the same kind of folks who arrested Wallace. It happens hundreds of times a year.
When a police officer makes an arrest and the case goes to trial, the officer goes before a state judge, not a judge hired by the Police Department.
Not so a TLC inspector. He goes to a TLC court and before a judge employed by the TLC. These judges are often underqualified private lawyers who work on a day-labor basis. That means they can be fired at the drop of a hat - something the NYPD, of course, could never do to a state judge.
This setup leaves TLC judges beholden to the agency. While they are supposed to consider the evidence the way any judge would, in fact, they often weight the evidence heavily in favor of TLC inspectors, as any taxi driver will tell you. It doesn't help that many cabbies are from places like Haiti and Pakistan and may not know their rights.
TLC judges who please the agency can be promoted to full-time agency lawyer status. Normally, successful lawyers become judges. But with the TLC, a legal bizarro world, it's the other way around.
With the TLC writing the rules and hiring the inspectors, prosecutors and even the judges, it's no wonder the entire regime is permeated by arrogance and abuse.
Cabbies see it every day. It's only when it happens to a Mike Wallace that it's news.
Ackman is a lawyer who sometimes represents taxi drivers and is a senior columnist for Forbes.com.
Originally published on August 13, 2004
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Re: Mike Wallace, octagenarian on 60 Minutes
Thanks for that piece Doc. I hear it almost everyday; the injustices meted out by the TLC and it's agents. Reminds me of the Parking Violations Bureau, a govt agency that would issue all 3 tickets in the same day for the same offense like not posting a registration certificate.
Mannes was in charge of the department at one time and he allegedly ended up commiting suicide, there was sooo much scandal in the PVB. Right after his death a very many tickets were revoked; for it was evident that they were issued ILLEGALLY; and dept changes were made.
The taxi and limousine drivers have to come together and form a "body" be it a union or otherwise. They need a mouthpiece to speak for them and even defend them when they are unjustly accused and even face the loss of their livelihood.
How long must the wicked reign over the people?Comment
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