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Family visiting park gets shock
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MASON – A Wayne Township volunteer firefighter is scheduled
to appear Thursday in Mason Municipal Court on drunken driving and
other charges after he was found wearing a woman’s blond wig and bikini
in a public park. Steven S. Cole, 46, Waynesville, was arrested
about 5 p.m. Tuesday at Heritage Oak Park off U.S. 42 after Mason
police received a report of an intoxicated man. Cole was charged with
drunken driving, having an open container, public indecency and
disorderly conduct. He did not respond to calls Wednesday for comment.
Cole was arrested after a Mason father enjoying the balmy spring weather at the park spotted him and called police. “It
was like this freak show,” said Troy Harphant, 35. “I was a little
taken by surprise by what I’d seen there. It was out of place with what
should have been going on over there, that’s for sure.”
Harphant
was at the park with his wife, Wendy, as they watched their daughter,
Hayley, 6, zip around on a bike path on her pink Barbie Princess
scooter.
At least 100 other adults and children also were at the park, Harphant said.
Harphant
said he saw what appeared to be a naked person on the bike path,
fondling or exposing himself or herself. The person seemed to be scared
off moments later by a jogger.
Harphant then said he saw the
bikini-clad person hop into a parked blue Ford F-150 pickup truck with
red emergency lights on top and he realized the person was a man.
“My wife said, “It’s a lady,’ and I was like, ‘No, it’s not a lady,’ ” Troy Harphant said.
He
then followed the truck as it drove around the park – including by the
children’s playground - and called police on his cell phone.
“There’s
a man out here dressed up in a wig and women’s two-piece bikini
freaking people out in the park,” he told a 911 dispatcher. “It’s
inappropriate and I’d like somebody to come check this guy out. The guy
is actually trying to leave the park now.”
Mason Police Officer
Scott Miller pulled the truck over. His report states: “I observed Cole
to be wearing a very skimpy woman’s … bikini with two tan water
balloons taped to the top to simulate two woman’s breasts and a pair of
pink Speedo flip-flop sandals.”
Cole was unsteady and twice
fell against the truck, Miller reported. Cole also fumbled through his
wallet and handed him a debit card and a credit card when asked for his
driver’s license.
The officer looked through the wallet but
could not find his driver’s license, although Cole did provide a Social
Security Number.
“I asked Cole what he was doing wearing a
woman’s bikini at the park where families frequent,” Miller wrote.
“Cole did state he was headed to a ‘gay bar’ in Dayton to perform as a
woman for a $10,000 prize."
As the two spoke, Miller reported smelling alcohol on Cole, who also had slurred speech.
Police
found an open, half-empty 40-ounce bottle of Budweiser in Cole’s truck.
They also found a black gym bag with more blond wigs, women’s bikinis,
long silver go-go boots and other women’s garments.
Cole’s blood-alcohol test registered 0.174, more than twice Ohio’s legal limit of 0.08.
Wayne
Township officials did not agree to interviews but issued a statement
Wednesday saying Cole would be placed on administrative leave while the
case continues. Cole has been a volunteer firefighter with the township
since August 2000.
“Wayne Township does not condone the accused
activities related to this incident,” according to the statement signed
by Donald “Gus” Edwards, trustee president, and Fire Chief Paul
Scherer. “We expect our employees, that are providing a service to the
community, to be good honest, reputable citizens.”
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