Charges against Olympic canoeist arrested at the Reflecting Pool were dropped.
The Department of Justice has moved to drop all charges against David Hearn, the 67-year-old three-time Olympian who was arrested and charged with a felony after touching a piece of peeling sealant at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool during a bike ride in June.
Hearn had faced up to ten years in prison on a single felony count of property destruction.
He maintained throughout that he had simply reached into the water to look at a piece of lining that was already coming away from the pool floor, and let go of it immediately when asked by park staff.
In a 20-page court filing submitted Friday, federal prosecutors admitted that newly reviewed evidence proved no vandalism was committed.
The real issue was the flawed installation
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro wrote in the motion to dismiss that the pool’s extensive peeling was the result of a “flawed installation by the contractor” and a “rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration.”
“Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt,” Pirro wrote.
A National Park Service witness had previously admitted under oath that the pool was already leaking millions of gallons of water per week before Hearn ever touched it.
Hearn’s legal team not satisfied
Hearn’s legal team welcomed the dismissal but made clear they were not satisfied with how the case had been handled.
“Its dismissal today does not erase the abuse of government power in arresting and charging a patriotic American who did nothing wrong,” his lawyers said in a joint statement.
“The government’s approach was ready, fire, aim. The administration owes Mr Hearn an apology.”
The Reflecting Pool had been renovated as part of a $15 million overhaul ahead of America’s 250th birthday celebrations.
Within days of being filled, large sections of the newly installed blue lining began bubbling, tearing and peeling away. Donald Trump publicly accused “Radical Left Lunatics” of deliberately destroying the pool and said law enforcement was investigating.
With the case against Hearn formally collapsed, legal analysts expect the remaining misdemeanor cases against other visitors who touched the peeling liner to be dismissed shortly as well.