Decapitator of hotel duck put on leave from fed job
Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 26, 2007 at midnight
The man accused of decapitating a tame duck at a Twin Cities hotel is a Denver federal health agency auditor, who was on a government trip, an agency spokesman said Tuesday.
Now, Scott D. Clark faces a felony animal cruelty charge and has been placed on paid administrative leave from his job with the Office of Inspector General in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said agency spokesman Don White.
"He was in St. Paul on an official government auditing assignment," White said. Clark, whose annual salary is $56,378, has worked one year for HHS.
Clark, 26, stunned people at the Embassy Suites Hotel in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday when he cornered the duck against a wall by an atrium pond and ripped its head off, according to a criminal complaint.
He then told onlookers, "I'm hungry. I'm gonna eat it," and carried the headless fowl on the elevator up to the fifth floor, police said. Hotel security agents detained him there until police arrived.
Arriving officers said "feathers and blood were found strewn about the lobby area." They also saw the duck's head bobbing in the pond and blood drops on Clark's shirt, according to the complaint.
"It sounds like there was quite a bit of alcohol involved," police Sgt. John Wuorinen told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
A man with the same name and birth date as Clark has held hunting and fishing permits in Missouri.
The Rocky could not reach Clark for comment Tuesday.
Clark faces a maximum sentence of two years in jail and a $5,000 fine if he's convicted. He was released on $10,000 bail Monday and was ordered to return to St. Paul for a court appearance Oct. 16.
The $400 duck was one of eight specially trained waterfowl the Embassy Suites purchased for "observation and enjoyment by hotel guests and visitors," the complaint stated.
gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486
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