Harvey: "this Is My Territory"

HARVEY:  "This is MY territory"

The latest, and perhaps the last, Harvey episode began the night of Nov. 7 at the Ramada Inn in Ann Arbor where Harvey and his supporters gathered to listen to election returns. By 11 p.m. the radio broadcasters had made it clear that Democrat Fred Postill was steamrolling to victory over Harvey, the AIP candidate. (See election story, page I.) 

Tiny Hughes, a WNRZ deejay covering the party, reported that Harvey "was not quite drunk" when an Ann Arbor police crew showed up at Ramada Inn to raid a poker game down the hall from Harvey's party.

Harvey barged out of the party when he saw the cops, Hughes said, and stood jaw-to-jaw with the crew leader, berating him for intruding on what Harvey claimed was "my territory."

"Don't tell me how to run my county, you dumb bastards. Get out of here and leave me alone, l'm still top dog here," Harvey howled at the Ann Arbor cops.

Suddenly a brief brawl broke out between several off-duty deputies who had surrounded Harvey and the Ann Arbor police. Both sides shoved and punched at the other. No one was hurt. But one long-haired dude, a Harvey supporter was dragged by his hair to the floor by some of Harvey's deputies who apparently did not realize he was on their side.

Finally the law enforcement agencies agreed to jointly raid the motel room. Once inside, Harvey again tried to take charge, slamming a black brother against the wall, handcuffing him and calling him a "nigger." In all, 12 poker players were arrested. The next day all 12 were released, without being charged.

By the next morning, however, Harvey had found other targets for his revenge. Grouchy from a hangover, Harvey bumped into Carol Compton as he walked into the jail.

"You're fired. Get out and don't come back," he yelled at Compton, a matron and secretary in the sheriff's department.

Then Harvey demoted Lt. Thomas Dorrance and Sgt. Richard Coppernoll to the rank of "civilian employees" and confiscated all their equipment, including their guns. Both were stripped of all authority.

Harvey then stormed out of his office, squealed away in a county car and headed north to go "hunting." For what, no one seems to know.