A 27-year-old Arizona man reportedly trying to sell magazines door to door on Long Neck Point Road was charged Monday, Aug. 17, with violating the town’s soliciting ordinance, police said.
Darien police gave this account (including accusations not proven in court) of the matter:
Police were called at about 6:30 p.m. and told that someone was trying to sell magazine subscriptions. Police went to the area and found Marquis Mayhue of Surprise, Ariz., who was working with Self Starters Inc. of 197th St., Bradenton, Fla. to sell magazines.
He was told to stop trying to sell magazines in the area, and if police again found he was trying to sell them, he would be arrested and fined.
He agreed to comply with that order, and police left. After another call to police about a person soliciting for magazines, the same officer went to the area and again found Mayhue.
Mayhue was charged with violating the town ordinance which requires a permit in order to solicit.
The fine for soliciting without a permit is $199, and Mayhue was told he could report to state Superior Court in Stamford on Friday, Aug. 28, to pay the fine or begin the process of defending himself in court, or he could pay police the money, and they would release him without him having to appear in court. He chose that option.
(This year, a police spokesman said, there have been far fewer solicitors for magazines, perhaps because penalties were stiffened in the town’s soliciting ordinance.)