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Bookmobile Service Suspended after Driver’s Off-Duty ArrestOfficials in Chemung County, New York, suspended operations of the Steele Memorial Library’s bookmobile after the arrest July 28 of driver William Knapp for allegedly loitering with the intent to solicit sex from an undercover Elmira police officer. Knapp, 53, who has driven the bookmobile for 31 years, is the only SML employee to have a commercial driver’s license.Knapp was placed on paid administrative leave as of August 1 until county and library officials could “look to see what transpired and make a decision,” Chemung County Executive Tom Santulli said in the August 1 Elmira Star-Gazette. “We are sensitive to the fact that there are a lot of young people who use the bookmobile.” Two days later, officials announced that they would seek a temporary replacement for Knapp—someone who possessed both a commercial driver’s license and, preferably, a library background. “Right now, the most important thing for the library to do is to get the bookmobile back on the road, providing books and other library materials to the public who enjoy them,” Library Director Jim Sleeth stated on the SML website August 3. The bookmobile circulated more than 24,000 items in 2004. Knapp, the Democratic candidate for the Elmira City Council’s 1st District seat, told the August 4 Star-Gazette that he was withdrawing from the race because “my integrity has been destroyed by this.” Posted August 5, 2005. |
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