BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT -- The legal system muscled a Newport man out of his muscle car Monday.
William Dees lost the keys to his red Pontiac Firebird to a judge who has been trying to get Mr. Dees to pay his child support. When repeated orders and 30 days behind bars didn't bring forth the payments, Campbell District Judge Mickey Foellger had to think of something else.
That's when he heard Mr. Dees, 31, had just bought the used Firebird -- and paid $15,000 cash.
"I asked him, "Do you have the car with you today?' He said yes," the judge said. "And I said, "OK, give me the keys.' "
An incredulous Mr. Dees looked at Judge Foellger, reached into his pocket and handed over the key.
"If he didn't say it," the judge said, "his face read, "You are kidding.' We weren't."
Mr. Dees couldn't be reached for comment Monday, but he'll be back in court todayto challenge Judge Foellger's action. The judge thinks he's on solid legal ground, thanks to tougher child-support collection laws enacted in recent years.
"It was definitely a first," the judge said, "but probably something that should be done more often."
Ordered to pay $281 a month, Mr. Dees owes about $8,000. The car is worth more than that, the judge said, and can be sold, if the court prevails over Mr. Dees' challenge today. The children would get the first $8,000.
Mr. Dees, he said, "can have what's left."
