Proving that life sometimes imitates art, the Washoe County Sheriff's Office on Thursday made a bust worthy of feature in the Comedy Central series "Reno 911!"
It seems the Nevada State Fair was being menaced by 42-year-old Herschel Rosenbaum. Not a common pickpocket or scam artist, Mr. Rosenbaum, according to police, was clever enough to obtain free tickets to the fair on an evening that required $7 admission at the gate. Mr. Rosenbaum was selling those tickets for -- gasp! -- personal profit.
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Assuming the roles of the sometimes clueless, sometimes overzealous officers of the cable TV series, Washoe County cops cuffed and stuffed Mr. Rosenbaum on suspicion of obtaining money by false pretenses.
Their proof? Mr. Rosenbaum was in possession of -- gasp! -- more than $400 in cash at the time of his arrest.
The sheriff's office is actively seeking out Mr. Rosenbaum's victims, urging them to come down to the station and fill out a report so they can get their, well, $5 or $10 back.
Las Vegas police officers can only dream of investigating such Hooterville-worthy offenses.
The arrest of Mr. Rosenbaum might have made sense if he was selling bogus tickets to an event that had no admission charge. But he had the initiative to obtain legitimate tickets that clearly had some value. If the tickets had no value, no one would have bought them from him.
Remember what happened last summer when the city of Las Vegas gave away free tickets to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert? Scalpers snatched up most of the tickets and sold them for hundreds of dollars apiece. Mayor Oscar Goodman and other city officials railed against the scoundrels as ruthless "profiteers."
The clowns on Comedy Central make Reno cops look bad enough. Washoe County's officers don't need to give the writers of "Reno 911!" more material.
Washoe County authorities should drop these ridiculous charges against Mr. Rosenbaum and find some real criminals to prosecute.
