Who is Mahoney and why does he get a free pass? Arrests are news. Don't be a criminal if you can't handle the reprecussions. Now I'm going to google Mahoney and figure out why I should care rather than have let it pass through my mind into the ether.

Nice note Cynthia. I completely agree with you.

C Jameson, you sound like a really nice guy. I'm glad I don't share a beer with you.

Poor fellow, got drunk, was asked to leave, refused and so the police had to eject him. Alcohol makes you do things that are embarrassing. Once you do those things in a public place it becomes everyone's business. I don't think the article was inappropriate, I think Dan was.......

Public scorn is one thing...but attacking a man's pride is a completely different story. The fact that he may or may not have cried is nothing less than an attempt to generate some clicks for an otherwise non-issue. People get drunk, people get arrested. I would bet more than half of the DUI/DWI's we read about on this site result in crying, but yet you don't see that printed do you? This arrest was for a victimless crime, but yet somehow you think he deserves excessive ridicule? I hope this kids father sues the PD and the Patch for publishing something personal rather than what is public record.

Morristown is a very small market town, so unfortunately this kind of things makes news. That being said, why get mad at the messenger who delivers the news...why not take offense to the Morristown PD for giving such details? I'm sure John Dunphy, the writer of the article, was not pressuring the police to give him more information about what went down at the police station. He probably asked a series of standard questions and reported dutifully on what he was told. Its a journalist's job to do just that. If they omitted details here and there it creates a slippery slope as to what journalism actually entails. The good news for those of you friends with the subject of the article? No one really cares. It will pass in time.

I understand Cynthia's concern; however it was public record and what was written appears to have all been from the police report. When I worked at a newspaper we once had to cover the DWI arrest of one of our reporters. It wasn't fun and no one wanted to do it; however we needed to retain our journalistic integrity by not giving him the free pass that everyone wanted to give him. Tough break for Dan and I am sure he will get through it but isn't it a bit ironic that the letter is only further bringing attention to the arrest? Just saying...

In no way am I saying that he deserves a free pass, nor was I angry at the "messenger". In fact, through my email correspondence with John this afternoon I let him know that I think very highly of his work. I am simply saying that I think the article went too far and did ridicule Dan. I also understand that this is bring more attention to the issue, but I feel that it should be conveyed that it went a little father than necessary.

I'd be okay with it if it was just a little blurb in the regular Police Report/ DUI reporting, but I think it was unnecessary for there to be an entire article about the incident. Nothing happened, he was just too drunk. How about a follow up on that shooting that happened the other week? Haven't heard anything else about that.

Unfortunately, Anthony Weiner is a public official. His conduct is our business. Dan isn't exactly a paid congressman that I know of.

Interesting question, how much should be private when covering crime? Should names be included? Should people be associated with a crime before a conviction? Well, I guess being a suspect is news, but that must be hard to shake even if you're exonerated. This is an especially important question in a super-local news source like the Patch. If we think of the situation as happening in a very small town, everyone might know who was involved anyway. Is this the cost of living in a digital village?

Huh? The fact that the rozzers released the information that he (apparently) cried IS the news. Why is it news? Because it tells us something. What does it tell us? That he was likely so uncooperative or generally such a pain in the derrière to the cops that they were compelled to have a tit for tat on him by releasing such base information. Could it be the cops just gave that info for pure giggles? Yeah, could be. But more likely it is because the cops wanted their just deserts on him for how he reacted to them, how he spoke to them, etc. The story apparently is not just that he was a drunk who got arrested (we may have all been there once?), but that once arrested he was a lousy drunken arrestee who wouldnt stop mouthing off and invoked some powerful figure to try to intimidate the cops (the story alluded that he mentioned his father as an attorney). I don't know any of this for certain, but I don know how to world generally works, and police are human just as us. I dunno, just my two cents.

Who would like to join me at Sona Thirteen for a few dozen shots and talk this out?

I happen to know Dan. Went to high school with him and traveled in the same circle of friends. When he drinks, he becomes very irresponsible. It is regrettable that he took his behavior so far, but I honestly hope he learns from this. If some public shame helps him change his habits, we may all be better for it. Anyone who has ever taken their fun night out to this level should learn something. Throwing a public tantrum and lying to the police (I KNOW his father isn't a lawyer) is immature. At 25 years old NO ONE should be acting like they are four; treating public establishments like their personal playground. Once in custody the indignation only amplified. I hope after some eating some humble pie, Dan doesn't do this ever again. Some people just need to be made an example of.