Bryan Whitman — familiar to many as the Pentagon’s top spokesman during much of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — has settled a case with people who live near him in DC, who caught him repeatedly stealing the license plates off their nanny’s car using a hidden camera.
The neighbors also believes Whitman is responsible for leaving harassing, threatening messages on their nanny’s windscreen, incorrectly asserting that she was breaking neighborhood rules by using their parking pass. They say that even after the settlement — in which Whitman agreed to pay $1,000 in restitution and perform 32 hours of community service — he continued to harass them, parking and pacing in front of their home.
He has also been ordered to stay off the neighbors’ block. His neighbors say they and their nanny live in fear of what he might do next.
The first sign of discontent appeared atop the nanny’s windshield on April 4.
In addition to the note’s message, the sheet of paper included a photo of the nanny’s decade-old Lexus SUV and of her visitor parking pass. The note was placed on the nanny’s front windshield, just next to a guardian angel prayer written in Spanish and displayed on her dashboard.
Both of the license plates from that car were stolen on April 6 — the day before Whitman’s 58th birthday.
The homeowners, who along with their nanny declined to comment, reported the crime to police, replaced the plates and paid AutoZone to bolt them on, court records indicate. They repeated this process later that week after the rear plate was stolen again.
A warning left on a nanny’s car. License plates stolen. And a top Pentagon official in big trouble.
[John Woodrow Cox/Washington Post]
(via Super Punch)