Patrolman ropes his man

Press, 28 August 1984, Page 20

Patrolman ropes his man

Giving new meaning to the phrase, the long arm of the law, a Douglas Policeman provided spectators with a taste of the Old West when he used his rodeo roping experience to arrest a man on disorderly conduct charges at the Wyoming State Fair. The officer was on mounted patrol at the State Fair grounds when he received a call about a disorderly person, the police said. The suspect, who had been drinking, was difficult to arrest, so the mounted patrolman hauled out his rope and caught the man by the heels. Witnesses said the patrolman when handcuffed the suspect and raised his arms,

yelling “time,” as calf and steer ropers do in rodeos. The police declined to identify the patrolman or suspect, saying they did not want to blow the incident out of proportion. But they said the officer had been with the force for about four years and had previous experience as a null rider and team roper in rodeos. Roping disruptive suspects was definately an effective method, but was not used as an attention-getter, the police said. “Those ropes can be dangerous, and it’s a last resort technique,” a police spokesman said. He said he knew of two other times when mounted patrolmen had roped suspects.