Scott Robert Duke's peaceful life suddenly turned chaotic on July 16 when he received a call from a bail bondsman letting him know that his name had appeared on a state data base and a warrant for his arrest was scheduled to go out the next morning.
That was news to him.
The bail bondsman, apparently looking for business, gave Duke his telephone number and told him to give it to his wife in case he was arrested and hauled off to jail.
Duke called 3rd District Court the next morning and was informed that, indeed, there was a warrant for his arrest. The clerk read him the probable cause statement which noted he was charged with stealing his grandmother's credit card in Heber City and using it at Home Depots in Wasatch County, Sandy and Cottonwood Heights.
She told him the victim's name, who was not his grandmother. In fact, he had never heard of her. He called his parents in Heber City and they knew her. They called the grandmother who explained the whole story. When the detective from Wasatch County interviewed her, she fingered her grandson, also named Scott Duke. But she neglected to tell the detective her grandson's middle name and the detective didn't ask. He looked up Scott Duke in the records and found our guy, who was born there.
The information was forwarded to police in Sandy and Cottonwood Heights.
When our Scott Robert Duke — the good guy — called the Cottonwood Heights detective who investigated the case to explain the mix-up, he also gave him Grandma's number for corroboration. He was told the D.A. would be contacted and they would fix the problem.
They didn't.
The next day there still was a warrant out for his arrest, although the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office emailed him a letter he was to carry around to prove his innocence to any officer who pulled him over.
Finally, after two days, the warrant was rescinded. But he wonders if when he ever applies for a job a background check will show that he once had a warrant for his arrest.
Protesting liquor laws with art: Long-time restaurateur Daniel Darger, owner of the Blue Iguana in downtown Salt Lake City's Arrow Press Square, just opened a second Blue Iguana at the top of Main Street in Park City.
He applied for and received a "beer-only" license from the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, but because the restaurant is new, he must erect a barricade — fondly called the Zion Curtain — that keeps the beer-pouring area out of view of the patrons.
The beer taps in the bar, he has learned, can be viewed by patrons as long they don't work. He cannot store beer in the coolers below the bar because someone might see him take a beer out of the cooler. Once the beer is poured, however, he can carry the beer in front of patrons to the table.
Makes perfect sense, right?
So Darger is considering holding a contest to see who can paint the best caricature of a bartender pouring alcohol into a glass that would adorn the floor-to-ceiling Zion Curtain.
Might I suggest the caricature be of a topless woman handling the beer. That not only would attract more customers, it would undoubtedly cause a satisfactory amount of apoplexy in the legislative halls of the Utah State Capitol.
It also could start a trend.
