PALMYRA, N.Y. – An upstate New York man is accused of buying up nearly 1,000 copies of a local newspaper to hide his recent driving while intoxicated arrest and mug shot.
Joseph Talbot, 43, was arrested by State Police last Thursday in Wayne County, New York. He was charged with driving while intoxicated and obstruction of governmental administration in the second-degree.
During the incident Talbot allegedly called the arresting state trooper an “a–hole” and refused to be fingerprinted or photographed because he didn’t want it to be in the local newspaper, The Wayne County Times.
According to the paper, Talbot said the trooper and the paper would ruin his family.
Joseph Talbot
Ron Holdraker, editor and owner of the Wayne County Times, said he heard about the story so he obtained Talbot’s mugshot and printed it on Saturday morning.
The story was featured in the 12,000-circulation newspaper and on its website.
In an attempt to keep others from reading about his DWI arrest, Holdraker says Talbot followed the paper’s deliveryman and bought nearly 1,000 copies of the paper at $1.25 each.
In fact, Talbot attempts had the reverse effect and the story was picked up by several national news outlets.
