Zamboni-riding fool

The thing we all shake our head at, but have at one time or another secretly longed to do... this guy did it. What a way to end that screwed-up year known as 2008!

Freeze! Zamboni-riding suspect put in police penalty box
A Portlander is charged after a break-in at the civic center includes an alleged drunken joyride.
By DAVID HENCH, Staff Writer
December 31, 2008

A Portland man faces charges of burglary and drunken driving after his arrest atop a Zamboni machine at the Cumberland County Civic Center early Tuesday morning.

Adam Patterson, 23, had inadvertently summoned the Portland Fire Department to the civic center by driving a forklift, with the forks raised, into part of the sprinkler system, setting off an alarm, police said. Firefighters responded at 2 a.m. to find Patterson trying to drive the large ice resurfacer, which was against an interior wall and not on any ice, police said.
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Police believe Patterson entered the building with one or more accomplices. They then rode on two forklifts and the Zamboni; drove one of them into one a goal used for Portland Pirates hockey games, bending the frame; and broke the sprinkler system, dousing a storage area with water, police said. The water poured out near a drain, limiting the damage to some carpet, Crane said.

Police also discovered a large $2,000 window broken on the Spring Street side of the building, but weren't sure if that was the entry point or whether it was broken from the inside.

Patterson, who police say was visibly intoxicated, was unable to say how he entered the civic center. He was taken to Cumberland County Jail, where he was under observation Tuesday. He declined a request for an interview.
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Crane said it's the first time someone has broken into the civic center in the 30 years he has been associated with it.

Read full article here: [Source]

Want a weird Maine Zamboni parallel? One of our top crimehounds, a former Maine State Police Detective, has the name of Joe Zamboni. He retired at the beginning of 2004, but not without leaving behind a legacy, including the State Police's "Evidence Response Team," which he founded. Think CSI.

Among other high-profile cases, he was involved in the investigation of the 1980 murder of young Joyce McClain.