In March of 2011, DelDOT ran wild and ripped down basketball hoops in one section of the neighborhood of Radnor Green north of Wilmington. They not only tore the poles out of the ground, some out of permanent concrete placements in which they had sat since the mid 60′s but they also destroyed a number of them by bending the poles and smashing the backboards. Their destruction of the play opportunities for a half dozen families (and numerous neighborhood kids) came as a result of a regulation tucked into the Delaware code back in 1998 which prohibited any obstructions within 7 feet of a right of way. The poles in question should have fallen under a grandfather clause but alas, the Delaware Department of Transportation used the services of Delaware State Police officers, one of which was off duty and dressed in an inappropriate FBI sweatshirt when she was caught on camera harassing the family to literally rip the poles out of the ground. The Blaze ran the story on their website and you can read more about the original story there.
John McCafferty and his wife Melissa fought the effort to steal the poles by DelDOT even to the point of Mrs. McCafferty climbing the pole and refusing to come down in the face of government pressure. She was eventually compelled to come down when she was told that the pole would not be taken. Immediately, DelDOT proceeded to tear the pole out of the ground and carried it away despite the protests of the family and assurances that they would be able to keep their pole. Today, in Delaware Chancery Court, the McCafferty’s filed suit with Case #7308. In a statement, the McCafferty’s write, “In a rematch from last years March Sadness, the Mccafferty family has come out firing 70 pages from the complaint floor. In addition, the Mccafferty family is utilizing a Full Court Press on DelDOT. With the Instant Ticketing System being brought down to size by the Dowd case factor …. it looks like Delsnot may be the one getting bulldozed in this year’s March Sadness rematch.“
The McCafferty’s suit contains civil and criminal allegations at both the state and federal level. The brief cites DelDOT for violation of the 14th Amendment and includes RICO charges, theft and property damage claims. First State News will bring you more as the story develops.
