# Has anyone ever been arrested in the United States for farting illegally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533 "2022-03-05T20:26:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/1 "2022-03-05T20:26:06Z")
Looking it up I’m just seeing European examples, but I remember 3-4 years ago there was a viral story on Twitter somebody in the US personally claimed they had been arrested by the police for “disturbing the peace” for farting. The story was they were ripped off by a local private business, he make a stink (not-literally) in front of the manager, manager told him to leave and he refused to manager called cops for trespassing. The man claimed that the Manager and Responding Officer were “Friends” and the Cop took managers side and told him to leave. So guy turns around to leave but inadvertently set off a loud fart as he was walking towards the door. Cop immediately runs up to him and puts him in handcuffs claimed he “disturbed the peace” for that incident and was taken to the local jail where he was immediately bailed out but had to pay a fine over it. The man was pretty adamant that was exactly what happened and people on Twitter immediately took his side and make a stink (not-literally) about it but looking at Google I can’t find anything about it anymore. How plausible was this story? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/2 "2022-03-05T20:33:58Z")
I knew a kid that was put on school detention for lighting farts on the school bus. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/3 "2022-03-05T23:40:17Z")
I would imagine someone would have to REALLY stink it up to get arrested for it. Like do it on the train every single day at the same time for weeks or months, after having been warned for it. Or for doing it in some deliberately obnoxious fashion; like intentionally repeatedly farting loudly in a court hearing or something. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/4 "2022-03-06T00:06:25Z")
Pétophilia is not a crime. I’m not even sure it’s a word, but it’s definitely not a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/5 "2022-03-07T16:20:45Z")
I remembered this story. > **[Charge dropped against man accused of farting](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna26877682)** > > A West Virginia man accused of passing gas and fanning it toward a police officer no longer faces a battery charge. The culprit was already under arrest, and the charge was dropped, but it’s pretty close to fitting the criteria of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/6 "2022-03-07T16:41:52Z")
Not quite what the OP is after but I know of one report in which a suspect, fleeing from police, cut a fart while trying to hide. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/7 "2022-03-07T16:55:59Z")
"Writing nearly a 80 years after Claudius’s reign, Suetonius commented that, “He is even said to have considered passing an edict, by which he would give license to farting at dinner, because he had heard of a man who had nearly killed himself by holding it in for shame. The words immediately before the statement about the flatulence edict are important too, because it comes in the context of Claudius being an emperor a sense of humor.” Source: [Roman Emperor Claudius and his "Edict" About Public Flatulence](https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/01/23/roman-emperor/?chrome=1) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/8 "2022-03-07T17:03:40Z")
FWIW, [NYPD officers once hauled a guy to court because his son’s balloon popped and disturbed the peace.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nypd-we-dont-allow-no-balloon-poppin-round-here/217224) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/9 "2022-03-07T17:09:03Z")
Right. Burst my balloon. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/10 "2022-03-08T05:33:09Z")
I recall hearing years ago a story from a lawyer friend about a person (lawyer or witness, I can’t remember) who was disagreeing with the Judge in Court, and shortly after farted loudly in the courtroom, and was charged with ‘contempt of court’ by the Judge, who felt he had done so deliberately. Not sure if that actually happened, but knowing the self-important arrogance of some Judges I’ve dealt with, it’s certainly possible. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/11 "2022-03-08T05:39:18Z")
I had to dig through my saved images and I found the actual story, and it’s so much stupider than I first posted. And I remember people were actually claiming this “happens all the time” > [Farting Arrest](https://imgur.com/a/ZrHbttU) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-been-arrested-in-the-united-states-for-farting-illegally/960533/12 "2022-03-08T23:07:42Z")
I want to believe that there are also judges who would burst out laughing.