Crime & Safety

Man's Reason for Urinating in Public: 'Because Dude'

Buford man arrested on disorderly conduct charge after relieving himself against the outside wall of a bar.

A Gwinnett County Police officer doing an area check of Sugar Hill Station on Aug. 18 got an eyeful when he passed by the Twisted Tavern.

“As I was driving towards the exit of the parking lot, I observed a white male standing in front of a wall near the patio area of the establishment,” the officer wrote in the arrest report. “I could clearly see that the man was holding his penis in his hand and was urinating against the wall.”

The officer exited the patrol car, approached the urinating man and identified himself as a police officer.

Find out what's happening in Bufordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The suspect was evidently startled by my arrival,” the officer wrote, noting that the man “jumped and urinated on the exterior of his shorts.”

When asked why he was urinating against the wall instead of using the bathroom inside the establishment, the man replied “Because dude.”

Find out what's happening in Bufordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Continuing to pursue that line of questioning, the officer asked the man, identified as Lincoln Flahiff, 43, of Buford, if “this seemed like an appropriate location to urinate” to which Flahiff reportedly replied, “I guess not dude.”

While the officer was checking Flahiff’s identification, Flahiff allegedly had a difficult time maintaining his balance and almost fell to the ground at one point before being caught by one of his friends. Another officer instructed Flahiff to move to a different location. Flahiff “was having a difficult time understanding the instruction” so the officer attempted to escort him to that spot. As soon as the officer touched Flahiff’s arm, Flahiff allegedly swung his arm around and narrowly missed striking the officer with his elbow.

Flahiff was placed under arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct. He was transported to the Gwinnett County Jail and released less than four hours later on a $135 bond.

Less than a week later, another Gwinnett County Police officer had a similar encounter with a different suspect.

On Aug. 23, an officer was driving through the McDonald’s parking lot in the Buford Mall when he saw a male exit a vehicle, walk to the other side of some bushes and lower his face. The officer could only see the man from the waist up, but noted the male “began to sway front to back and side to side, smiling and giggling towards the female passenger in his car.”

When the officer approached and asked the man what he was doing, the male, identified as William Smith, 23, of Buford, said he was throwing some items in the trash. There was, however, no trashcan in the vicinity and the officer noticed a wet spot on the ground and a “large wet area in the bushes.”

Upon further questioning, Smith allegedly admitted he had urinated in the bushes and said he had not gone inside McDonald’s because he thought it was closed. He then reportedly admitted it was a “stupid decision” to urinate in public.

The officer conducted field sobriety tests on Smith but did not observe enough indicators to charge him with driving under the influence. Smith was taken into custody on a charge of disorderly conduct for urinating in public. He was transported to the Gwinnett County Jail and released later that day on a $140 bond.

You might also be interested in reading:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.