Two Minnesota lawmakers Wednesday vehemently denied a Dakota County park ranger's report that they were "making out" in a car in Eagan.
Rep. Tim Kelly of Red Wing and Rep. Tara Mack of Apple Valley drew the nuisance citations Aug. 25 from Dakota County Parks Ranger Jordan Moses, who encountered them in a parking lot at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan.
Moses told Kelly and Mark that they were double parked, because of the way their two cars were aligned. Kelly disagreed with Moses and took a photo of the cars. Moses subsequently issued them both public nuisance citations.
The public copies of those citations identify the cars involved, and the time of day, 4:30 p.m.. But they don't include the officer's notes. But another court document, a case register obtained by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, included a briefing notation by Ranger Moses.
"Was making out with female in car. When I approached the female's pants were unzipped and pulled down."
Kelly and Mack, who are both married to other people, said the park ranger's statement was completely false and egregious. They furthered alleged that his narrative was part of a document had been "illegally obtained" by the media.
Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie said he hadn't spoken to Moses or seen his official incident report, but that he trusts the young ranger.
"He's a fine, upstanding young man. We have a lot of trust in his abilities, and I've no reason to doubt what he's putting in his report," Sheriff Leslie told KARE.
He said the rangers are seasonal employees who patrol the Dakota County Parks in marked cars. Moses, as with the other people hired to be rangers, is going to school to become a law enforcement officer.
"He doesn’t know these people. He’s just doing his job. That’s what park rangers do, is they patrol and look for problems in the parks and that’s what he was doing," Sheriff Leslie remarked.
The Pioneer Press said the newspaper legally obtained the park ranger's narrative, that it was on the screen anyone could pull up at the public court records search terminal in the Dakota County Courthouse in Hastings.
Leslie said his department hasn't released any private information about the case to the press. He said he believed the Pioneer Press received it's information through court files.
"There is an allegation that there’s some sort of a leak. As far as we know nothing’s come out of the sheriff’s office," Leslie explained.
"But if someone provides me information I’ll certainly look into it, absolutely."
The two lawmakers are prominent House Republicans. Kelly chairs the transportation committee and Mack leads the health reform committee.
In a statement issued to the media on Wednesday, Rep. Kelly said he met Rep. Mack in the Lebanon Hills Regional Park to exchange some documents related to the South Country Health Alliance, based in Owatonna.
He said the ranger became "agitated" because Kelly disputed his complaint about how Kelly and Mack's vehicles were parked.
"Approximately ten minutes later, he returned to my vehicle with a parking ticket citing a nuisance. When I asked what that meant, he responded 'whatever I want it to mean'," Kelly's prepared statement to the media read.
"I’ve since learned the park ranger included false information in his notes that I understand have now been illegally obtained. What he wrote is an absolute lie and I intend on filing a complaint."
Mack also issued a statement to the press, which reads as follows:
"I have been told the officer wrote in his notes -- information that I’ve requested, but has not yet been made public to me -- statements that are completely false and inappropriate (and apparently were illegally obtained). I will be filing a complaint with the sheriff’s office regarding the officer's egregious and false statements."
