Say you wanted to hire a police helicopter and a police boat full of officers to help you stage a raid on your own boat in order to propose to your girlfriend. How much do you think that would cost? Do I hear $2,000? Maybe $15,000?
If you are Maryland Delegate Jon Cardin, the cost is $300.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Cardin submitted the check on Thursday for his Aug. 7 marriage proposal at the Inner Harbor.
During the incident, police officers boarded a boat Cardin and his fiancee were on with friends and pretended to search for contraband until Cardin popped the question. The police helicopter flew overhead, too.
Guglielmi said the amount was based on the hourly rate paid to the officers involved in the incident that lasted about 15 minutes and the cost of helicopter fuel.
Cardin, a Democrat, has apologized several times to the department, the city and his constituents in Baltimore County. Now Cardin finally can "show people that my money is where my mouth is,” as he told a local newspaper earlier this year while his house was profiled on a cable TV show.
Let's just hope he will follow his own advice, which he provided to the Owings Mills Times:
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“I am trying to model behavior for everybody.”
Good luck with that.