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<div><br></div>
<div>The full Roll Call story.</div>
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<div>m.</div>
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Craig Arrested, Pleads Guilty Following Incident in Airport
Restroom<br>
Monday, Aug. 27, 2007; 4:48 pm<br>
By John McArdle,<br>
Roll Call Staff<br>
<br>
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport
by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints
in a men's public restroom, according to an arrest report obtained
by Roll Call Monday afternoon.<br>
<br>
Craig's arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded
guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County
District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day
jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with
the court that began on Aug. 8.<br>
<br>
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a "he said/he said
misunderstanding," and said the office would release a fuller
statement later Monday afternoon.<br>
<br>
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport
Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct
incident, according to the police report. At one point during the
interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a
business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, "What
do you think about that?" the report states.<br>
<br>
Craig was detained for approximately 45 minutes, interviewed,
photographed, fingerprinted and released, and police prepared a formal
complaint for interference with privacy and disorderly conduct.<br>
<br>
According to the incident report, Sgt. Dave Karsnia was working as a
plainclothes officer on June 11 investigating civilian complaints
regarding sexual activity in the men's public restroom in which
Craig was arrested.<br>
<br>
Airport police previously had made numerous arrests in the men's
restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal in
connection with sexual activity.<br>
<br>
Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes
after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see "an older
white male with grey hair standing outside my stall."<br>
<br>
The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later
identified as Craig.<br>
<br>
"I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his
position. Craig would look down at his hands, 'fidget' with his
fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig
would repeat this cycle for about two minutes," the report
states.<br>
<br>
Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia's and placed his roller
bag against the front of the stall door.<br>
<br>
"My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct
use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,"
Karsnia stated in his report. "From my seated position, I could
observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me."<br>
<br>
Craig was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes.<br>
<br>
"At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a
signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped
his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot. I moved
my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the
stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown
persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its
intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he
moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which
was within my stall area," the report states.<br>
<br>
Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several
times, and Karsnia noted in his report that "I could ... see Craig
had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the
stall divider."<br>
<br>
Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that
Craig could see it.<br>
<br>
"With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig
responded, 'No!' I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited
the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. ... Craig
said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to
go, and that I didn't want to make a scene. Craig then left the
restroom."</font></div>
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In a recorded interview after his arrest, Craig "either disagreed
with me or 'didn't recall' the events as they happened," the
report states.<br>
<br>
Craig stated "that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom
and that his foot may have touched mine," the report states. Craig
also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right
hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor.<br>
<br>
"It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the
bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper," the
arresting officer said in the report.<br>
<br>
On Aug. 8, the day he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in the
Minnesota court, Craig appeared via satellite at a ceremony that took
place in Idaho in which former Idaho federal Judge Randy Smith was
invested into his new position as a judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals.</font><br>
<font color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">In October 2006, Craig's office publicly
denied allegations that he was a homosexual made on a gay activist Web
site - blogactive.com. Craig's office told the Spokane
Spokesman-Review that the charge was "completely ridiculous,"
saying that the allegations had "no basis in fact."<br>
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