Cole CSO arrested in court outburst - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Cole CSO arrested in court outburst

The combat systems officer of the destroyer Cole is back on duty this week after he was arrested in a courtroom outburst over a disputed traffic ticket in Portsmouth, Va.

Lt. Timothy Barry appeared in court to challenge a speeding ticket, but the proceedings started off bad and got worse: According to a report in the Washington Times, which cited a Sept. 3 internal Navy message, Barry refused to rise when the judge entered the courtroom. When a bailiff asked him why he hadn’t stood, Barry asked whether that was required by law.

Barry, who could not persuade the judge he hadn’t been speeding, threw his credit card onto a clerk’s desk — presumably to pay his fine — but would not give the clerk his driver’s license, the Times reported. So the judge brought him back to court and ordered him arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and of “interfering with a law enforcement officer.”

Additional details in the case were not available late Thursday; the Portsmouth courthouse’s closing time is 4:30 p.m.

Paul Taylor, a spokesman for Naval Surface Force Atlantic, confirmed the story and confirmed that Barry was back on duty aboard the Cole. There has been “no additional action,” so far by the Navy or his command, Taylor said, “but that doesn’t’ mean there’s not a possibility of action to follow.”