A scooter vigilante's activities in Scottsdale were short lived. A local columnist has an ambivalent take on the story.
Joanna Allhands pens an opinion piece on the subject of Michael Smalley, who took a vigilante's to approach to scofflaw scooter users by impounding scooters and holding them for ransom. The idea wasn't unique to Smalley, who registered a business in Scottsdale to do the work of taking scooters ransom. Another company in San Diego attracted a lawsuit earlier this year for similar activities.
According to Allhands, Smalley was both wrong, and a folk hero.
Smalley, like many of us, was tired of seeing scooters turn up in the most annoying places. Like, oh, say, in the middle of the sidewalk.
But he didn’t just walk by and get annoyed, or silently curse companies for using public right of way to make money. He didn’t even report it to the city in hopes that some code enforcement officer would spring into action.
No. He impounded the darned things. Smalley even registered a business with Scottsdale to do this kind of work.
Smalley didn't ask permission, however, to impound private property, and has backed down from the practice since police were notified.
Allhands is clearly not a fan of scooters, if the editorializing apparent in the above quote didn't make clear.
FULL STORY: Scottsdale's scooter vigilante was wrong ... and still satisfyingly right
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