Star Of 2010 GOP Campaign Ad That Went Viral Charged With Shoplifting Beer
An Alabama Republican who ran for agriculture commissioner in 2010 and whose campaign ad became a YouTube sensation is being charged with shoplifting beer, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
According to police in Hoover, Ala., Dale Peterson was arrested at a local Wal-Mart on Oct. 15 when he pushed his shopping cart filled with beer and paper towels past the cash registers before paying for the items. He was arrested on a charge of third-degree theft of property, according to the AP.
Peterson insisted that it was merely a misunderstanding. On a run to pick up supplies for a football game, Peterson said he was struck by the urge to use the restroom just as he was preparing to pay for the items, which totaled less than $40. “I had to go when I went in the store,” Peterson said, as quoted by the AP. He parked the shopping cart outside the bathroom and said he was met by store security as he exited.
A Peterson 2010 campaign ad in which he brandished a rifle and rode on a horse emerged as a hit on the Internet. In the ad, which featured quick transitions and music fit for a western, Peterson wanred of "thugs and criminals" who are liable to abuse taxpayer money.
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