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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Charges dropped in O'Hare penis pump scare |
| 2006-09-14 |
| BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter Mardin Amin's mother is probably still wondering why people made such a big fuss over a silly pump: the kind used to inflate soccer balls and the like. An embarrassed Amin told his mother it was that type of device -- not, in actuality, a penis pump -- that got him in trouble with O'Hare Airport security in August and prevented him from boarding an international flight with her. But at least now the embarrassment and worry of having to appear in criminal court is over. Cook County prosecutors agreed Wednesday to drop a felony disorderly conduct charge against the Iraqi man, who faced up to three years in prison if convicted. "You don't believe it -- I was dreaming about this court and what was going to happen," said Amin, wearing a new, $250 blue suit he bought just for his date at the 26th and California courthouse. "It's like a nightmare." Amin's odd brush with the law began Aug. 16, when the 29-year-old, his two children and his mother were going through O'Hare security on a trip to Iraq. A security guard plucked a small, black rubber object from Amin's hand luggage, and asked him about it. Unwilling to openly say the words "penis pump" while his mother stood near, Amin twice whispered something that, according to Amin, the guard misinterpreted as "bomb." Amin, who lives in Skokie, was promptly arrested and charged with a felony. His attorney, Eileen M. O'Neill, said this week common sense demanded the Cook County state's attorney's office drop the charge. "Right from the get-go, it made no sense that a guy who has worked as a translator for [the U.S.] Army in Iraq wouldn't know the consequences of saying, 'I have a bomb,' " O'Neill said. John Gorman, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office, said the charges were dropped because the U.S. Transportation and Security Administration sent Amin a letter saying they only wished to issue a warning. "Because the TSA was our victim and they didn't wish to pursue [the case], we dropped the charges," Gorman said. A beaming Amin said he will now travel sans penis pump. "Hell no," he said. "That pump give me a lot of trouble." "Developping my weener is just not worth the trouble, I mean." |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #5 Know the Spanish word for pump? "BOMBA" With apologies to Richie Valens Sung to the tune of : La Bamba LA BOMBA I financed a Bomba I pranced with my Bomba You need a little grease, a little bit of grease for your little thing and up and up and up and up and up it will go IÂ’m not into the sheep IÂ’m not into the sheep Though they say I will be Though they say I will be Bah Bah Bomba, Bah Bah Bomba Prance with the Bomba Bah Bah Bomba, Bah Bah Bomba Prance with the Bomba My fling with the Bomba My fling with the Bomba, it is my intention Because I put it on in front, Because I put it on in front, Because I put it on in front of the mirror The Bomba is useful The Bomba is useful at the Ranchera Got caught with my goat and no pants IÂ’m going straight to hell |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-09-14 23:18 |
| #4 Idiots. Victims of a "false cognate." Know the Spanish word for pump? "BOMBA" How often do you think that gets the customs guys excited? |
| Posted by: Fodamage 2006-09-14 18:11 |
| #3 I'll bet that while his mother may not know exactly what her son intended to do with that thing (and don't be so sure about her ignorance -- Iraq never had a Victorian age, and the whole of Muslim society has a clear understanding that men have certain needs), she's very clear that he was stupid enough to ruin the family vacation. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-09-14 17:08 |
| #2 TSA didn't bring charges because everybody would be laughing so hard that no trial could get done. :) |
| Posted by: djohn66 2006-09-14 16:19 |
| #1 I'll bet the staff reporter was doubled over when he was writing "...O'Hare penis pump scare." One of the rewards of the job, I guess. |
| Posted by: Jonathan 2006-09-14 15:02 |