Breaking the law
Staff Photo, Nate Delesline III
Mayor Pranas Rimeikis, left, catches “scofflaws” Cory Finkle and Steve Heaton soapy-handed as they wash Trooper the donkey Saturday in downtown Culpeper. The two are part of a Washington, D.C., film crew that is producing a Web series on wacky laws that may or may not still be on the books.
A miniature donkey helped a Washington, D.C., film crew put the law to the test just for fun in downtown Culpeper Saturday.
Dozens of people near the Depot and at the farmer’s market watched — and a few joined in — as the crew filmed themselves washing the animal as part of an online series of vignettes entitled “Breaking the Law.”
John Roberts, a North Carolina native and graduate of the University of North Carolina school of the Arts who helped organize the event, said the idea behind the series is to travel across the country documenting wacky and unusual laws that may or may not still be on the books.
Joined by three others — Hayes Permar, Cory Finkle, and Steve Heaton — the group spent about an hour downtown with Trooper the donkey and his owner, Debbie Wright of Charlottesville.
After unloading Trooper from his trailer, Finkle and Heaton first spent a few minutes ad-libbing a debate for the camera on the decision to wash the donkey near the depot before moving down the street to the farmer’s market, encouraging passersby to partake in the action.
They included Culpeper Mayor Pranas Rimeikis, who appeared on camera, but politely declined to engage in the washing.
“It can’t be crime if you do it,” one of the men urged the mayor.
Roberts, president of Third Floor Productions, said they chose Culpeper for its character, its proximity to D.C., and because washing a donkey “sounded like fun”.
“It went well,” Roberts said moments after reviewing some of the footage on his camera. Trooper too seemed to take the excitement well, contentedly crunching a carrot after patiently being rubbed by dozens of unfamiliar hands.
“He was a star,” Wright said with a smile.
Roberts said he hopes to eventually sell all the segments to a film company and that he plans to post the Culpeper visit on YouTube within the next few weeks after editing of the sketch is complete.
According to Roberts, the next film stop may be North Carolina, where it apparently is illegal to hold a bingo game for more than five hours.
Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .
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