ToD Guitarist Arrested, Released in Western New York
12/12/2007 -- by merlin

BUFFALO, New York (AP) -- Lead guitarist Kevin Allen of prominent indie-rock folk heroes ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead was arrested late Friday evening after a verbal dispute with several border patrol agents at a busy border crossing on the outskirts of Buffalo.

According to sources familiar with the case, Allen was returning home from visiting friends in the Toronto area when he was stopped for a routine identification check at a Buffalo border crossing.  Witnesses confirmed it was Allen who initiated the dispute after border patrol agents refused to let him through the checkpoint.  Allen exited his car and proceeded to continue the argument, several times placing his hand on his car to recover his balance, before pleading his case to two lanes of oncoming traffic, unintentionally rendering the crossing closed for several minutes.  It was then that border patrol agents took the groggy Allen into custody.  Police say he was released the following morning on his own recognizance after agents decided he no longer posed any danger.

Buffalo border patrol spokesman Roger Peterson called the incident "unremarkable", conceding alcohol-fueled misunderstandings like these are somewhat commonplace along the border.  "Things like this happen all the time," Peterson admitted.  "It's almost routine at times.  We simply don't have the resources to prosecute everyone who comes across the border.  Because if we were following the letter of the law, that's who we'd be prosecuting.  Everyone who crossed the border.  Illegals without documentation, drug-smugglers, terrorists, or drunks.  Who would you go after?  Over the years we've learned to be open-minded dealing with those who may have been at the bottle a bit too much before getting behind the wheel.  Letting them sleep it off in a holding cell is far more cost-effective."

"After all, this isn't the big city.  Up here you can either drink, sleep, or play hockey.  We won't let you do two of the three at once."

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