WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Jeff City Attorney found asleep in neighbor's trash can

Jeff City Attorney found asleep in neighbor's trash can

By Shayla Reaves - bio | email
Posted By Mike Dever - email

JEFFERSONVILLE, IN (WAVE) - Larry Wilder, the attorney for Jeffersonville's city council, has a lot of people wondering how he ended up asleep in a neighbor's trash can.

No one has any problems with Wilder's skills as the city council's attorney - he's lost only one case in 17 months on the job. But some people are now questioning his personal choices after a neighbor found him sleeping in his trash can early Tuesday morning.

That neighbor called 911 for help, and WAVE 3 obtained a transcript of the call:

DISPATCHER:
Jeffersonville police.

CALLER:
I've got a ... and don't laugh ... I've got a man halfway in my garbage can, the garbage is turned over and there's man in it ... laying in it. I don't know if he's drunk or what.

DISPATCHER:
OK.

DISPATCHER:
He's going to start for 3503 Elk Pointe Boulevard. There's a subject in this guy's trash can, he's drunk and he's half in and half out.

DISPATCHER:
Did you put him in the trash can sir?

CALLER:
No Ma'am.

WAVE 3 obtained three pictures that were taken anonymously, showing Wilder asleep inside the can.

It's not clear if the neighbor knew the person inside was Wilder.

Jeffersonville Police Chief Tim Deeringer tells us police get calls all the time for people drinking and every call doesn't always lead to an arrest. He says it is a tool officers are taught to use at their discretion, even in situations like Wilder's case.

"When officers arrived on the scene, they made contact with that person and he was identified as Larry Wilder," Deeringer said. "He wasn't belligerent, he wasn't out of control. Mr. Wilder was asked if he could walk to his home. He said he could and he was turned over to two adult children at the house."

The news is still sinking in throughout the community, including the city council, where members say he's good at his job.

But Jeffersonville City Council President Connie Sellers says "it is very embarrassing when you say you find the city attorney in a garbage can. I can't set my morals to his - I mean he is an excellent attorney - what he does in his personal life ... it's his personal life."

"Sometimes smart people do things you wouldn't expect them to do," said City of Jeffersonville Spokesperson Larry Thomas."You've got a smart guy who made a bad decision."

We called Wilder to get his side of the story, but he didn't call us back before this story ran.

Police tell us no charges are expected to be filed although Sellers says the City Council could meet to discuss this issue shortly.

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