Recent reports out of New York are indicating that working for the government not only makes you cheap, but if you’re anything like 28-year-old prosecutor Matthew Knouff, it may also turn you insane. Already on suspension after an arrest for throwing a brick through a restaurant window at his office Christmas party, Knouff, a prosecutor in the Brooklyn D.A.’s office, was fired last week after being arrested (again) for basically being an incredible jackass.
The trouble started when Knouff tried to stiff a cab driver on a ride home from Midtown to Brooklyn, “heatedly told the cabby he was a cop,” and then, when the real cops showed up, the “profanity-spewing Knouff” tried to bribe them to let him go. And what was the sum this smooth-talking junior lawyer offered each of the cops to look the other way? A sweet $50 apiece.
Lawyers following the story have acknowledged that it’s tough to be a “playa” on a government salary, but have nevertheless offered a few words of advice to the banished prosecutor: Next time you try to bribe a cop, offer at least a cool thousand. That way, when they arrest you, and everyone you know finds out about it, at least you’ll look like a generous idiot. [NY Post]
