Builder of 'obscene snowman' isn't upset police told him to destroy it
A man who helped build a snow sculpture depicting a penis in the front yard of his Ypsilanti home Monday says he did it for entertainment and isn’t upset police told him to destroy it after a woman found it offensive.
“A lot of people thought it was hilarious,” said 20-year-old Mike Scoffins of South Lyon, who is a junior at Eastern Michigan University.
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Police responded to Scoffins' North Summit Street home about 3:31 p.m. Tuesday after someone called to report an “obscene snowman,” a police incident log said.
Scoffins said the woman complained the 6-foot-tall sculpture was offensive and some "kids were asking about it," so she had to explain it.
A police officer told Scoffins he had to destroy it, which he did as the officer watched, he said. Shortly after, another person showed up in a city of Ypsilanti vehicle to ensure it was destroyed, he said.
Scoffins and his roommate spent 45 minutes building it and simply wanted to take some photographs, he said.
It wasn't his goal to offend anyone, he said, noting anyone passing by his house wouldn't be able to tell what it was at "a quick glance."
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 or email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
Smiley
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 7:38 p.m.
Given the past couple of years, I think the people in SE Michigan deserve any reason they can find to laugh. Rrrrrodney Stuckey - your post made me laugh, and that's the 'snow covered' point.
cwhite20
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 6:17 p.m.
I wish I still lived in the area, someone needs to take the lead in starting a silent protest building penises all over the ypsilanti area.. See how much time the police are willing to dedicate to destroying all of them.
Julie Martin
Tue, Mar 2, 2010 : 11:55 a.m.
I think a little more outrage is necessary about the morality police in this instance. OMG IT'S A PENIS! Almost all men have one. **SHOCK & AWE!!**
fensk
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 3:58 p.m.
I have to say, I have been laughing for days on this one. And just for a moment....imagine the 911 dispatcher that took the call...."911 what is your emergency?"....and then..."There is a giant WHAT on the lawn?"...." Well we will send someone right out.."
Woman in Ypsilanti
Mon, Mar 1, 2010 : 2:04 p.m.
I have to admit that I found this whole thing funny. I didnt find the original snow sculpture to be funny but people's reactions to it sure have made me laugh. Good grief. And fwiw, I would not worry too much about walking down the street with my mother and having her see a snow penis. I am pretty sure that she has seen a penis before. I would go so far as to suggest that anyone whose had another human being emerge from her vagina can probably handle seeing a representation of a penis in the snow! Sheesh.
dading dont delete me bro
Sun, Feb 28, 2010 : 4 p.m.
there's an anatomicaly correct female snowlady on the north side of washtenaw near ballard...nicely endowed. can someone explain to me what it is, or should i report it to the ypd...? please help.
Annie
Sun, Feb 28, 2010 : 1:41 p.m.
I think this is hilarious. Honestly, the world is just too serious these days. If I looked over while I was driving past a house and saw a gigantic penis made out of snow, it would probably make my day. At the least, I would have cracked a smile. People really need to get sticks out of their behinds and lighten up a little. It's really nothing to get bent out of shape about! 50% of the population own this type of thing, ya know!
memyselfandi
Sat, Feb 27, 2010 : 1:31 a.m.
I'm am a woman old enough to collect Social Security....and guess what!! I am laughing....and forwarding this to my friends....and they are laughing too.....! I would not have been surprised to find something like this in my front yard when my children were growing up....I would have laughed...and then told them that they should knock it down because others may be offended. If they had built it in my back yard, it could have stayed there. It would have been fun and interesting to watch the manner in which it melted....probably would have been at least a whole week of fun!
Emily
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 5:09 p.m.
I find it ironic that it was destroyed because it was offensive, yet that offensive image is right online, just one click away! I think it's hilarious, and of course someone found it offensive! But also, he stated no one driving by would know what it was? PLEASE, it's clear as day! However if he did it to take a picture... well, we have back yards for that, folks!
hypsi
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 3:10 p.m.
Sheesh, it's a good thing the lady that complained didn't drive towards Bedford Twp..where the teen boys had a pact on who could make the biggest penis out of snow. There are/were penises everywhere you looked!
Joe Moffatt
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 2:49 p.m.
The pro and con argument regarding this sculpture should be headlined, "SNOWBALL FIGHT"!
Lisa Bashert
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 2:38 p.m.
Sadly, the other OTHER gigantic penis in Ypsi (same day at the corner of S Hamilton & Washtenaw) was much more anatomically realistic but hasn't even gotten a mention! I think that our water tower is so inspiring, we can look forward to many more such erections in future.
dading dont delete me bro
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 1:59 p.m.
@Rhondasma, no questions this time... you're making way too much out of this. i got a chuckle out of it as it looks many other's here (posters) have. nobody got hurt, nobody's property got damaged, looks like good old college fun to me. maybe he's a biology student. big deal/lighten up.
M.
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 1:27 p.m.
My only concern about something like this WOULD be my kid seeing it. Then I realized people stand on both sidewalks on either side of Michigan Ave holding gigantic signs of graphic full color photos of dead babies (aborted fetusses) to protest abortion and are ALLOWED to (no problem with the protest, just the method...if they care so much about innocent children why don't they consider that most kids can see the pictures too?). Personally I'd rather my 5 year old look at a giant penis. Which is more offensive? Giant snow penis vs. larger than life photos of bloody aborted babies. Perhaps if the guys said the penis was in protest to sexism or something they would have been able to keep it.
Rhondasma
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 1:10 p.m.
"hunh?!?! what's NOT funny about this? nobody got hurt, sure it's juvenile, but what the heck? would you rather have this student spending his free time breaking into cars or selling drugs? -dading!" Thank you for your very enlightening answer to my earlier question, "dading". Answering a question with a question, avoiding the question altogether. Very good. Thanks, also, for pointing out that the student had only 3 choices for activity - "would you rather have this student spending his free time breaking into cars or selling drugs": inappropriate snow sculpture, breaking into cars or selling drugs. 'Tis a shame we have such limited options for worthwhile activity.
Awakened
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 10 a.m.
Go Eagles!
Grumpy
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:49 a.m.
85 comments combined on this story making it the number one active discussion ends the debate on whether or not this is "news." Hysterical news at that!
AAbob43
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:29 a.m.
"Genericreg" got it right. "bunnyabbot" asks "why was this even news?" Answer: the thought police (literally.) The First (the very first) Amendment to our Constitution. That said (that is, after having recognized the underlying seriousness of police and one other Ypsilanti authority taking action to violate the First Amdnement), it's refreshing to see that people in AA can "squad up" and come up with lots of funny comments about something that was clearly intended to be humorous. Some day, if we can all lighten up a bit, we may stop having the rest of the world kick the crap out of our bickering American selves. (How's that for extrapolation from just one penis sculpture?)
RudeJude
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:28 a.m.
Wow. And the former Ann Arbor News hits yet a new low. I wonder, did the Eastern Echo even cover this story?
dading dont delete me bro
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:26 a.m.
@Rhondasma hunh?!?! what's NOT funny about this? nobody got hurt, sure it's juvenile, but what the heck? would you rather have this student spending his free time breaking into cars or selling drugs? -dading!
jt
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:23 a.m.
"Typical liberal...gets offended by something and therefor it should be destroyed. If you don't like it, don't look at it!" The cop is liberal? How do you know this? How do you balance "liberals love art" and "liberals want art torn down"? I mean really, if we are going to stereotype we must use them all. Wouldn't the better one be: why didn't liberals get federal funding for the giant penis so they could offend the xtians in the community? And isn't it just as likely that the woman that complained was a conservative that was concerned that her child might see a penis before marriage? But alas, it is easier to attack some unseen "liberal" and assign guilt than apply the brain pan. "Hey lady, you should be more concerned with the sexually explicit crap the leftist in the Government School System are teaching your kids. The college boys pale in comparison. " There is one leftist in the GSS controlling what kids see? Gee, I thought it was the democratically elected school board. Do we not want our children to be as well informed as possible about biology, which includes anatomy, information about SDT's and what actually causes pregnancy? "Just say No!" didn't work for Bristol, or Rielle Hunter. Abstinence only programs have been shown to be failures. Please don't fear knowledge, teach your kids how to think and evaluate what they learn in school.
Rhondasma
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:02 a.m.
Will someone please explain what is so funny about this? I stopped laughing at juvenile humor... when I was no longer a juvenile. Not upset, I just don't get what makes it funny to mature adults.
rkhpa
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 8:28 a.m.
I guess I better put a sign up by the big igloo in my front yard stating that it isn't a snow breast.
stunhsif
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 8:20 a.m.
inappropriate but funny none the less!! glad the young man was ok with rubbing it out after the cop showed up.
jeepinkev
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 6:08 a.m.
Typical liberal...gets offended by something and therefor it should be destroyed. If you don't like it, don't look at it!
ChuckL
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 11:40 p.m.
What is the specific violation of law here? The police officer did not site a statue that was violated. No violation of law, no right to tell the resident to take the item down.
bunnyabbot
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 10:55 p.m.
well I will say for being erect they forgot to include a big vein.
Jed I Knight
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 10:14 p.m.
So if I get this straight, he built it and then the cops stood by and made him take it down?
Captain Magnificent
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 9:19 p.m.
This man needs to be sent to prison if he caused even one child to learn what male genitals look like. We need to protect them from ever seeing any genitalia until they're over 18 and have had a chance to develop their own genitals.
dading dont delete me bro
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 8:10 p.m.
glad to see it got 'rubbed out'...
Chris 8 - YPSI PRIDE
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 7:19 p.m.
Looks like Bin Laden to me!
jcj
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 6:40 p.m.
A lot of people thought it was hilarious, And I can imagine just what kind of people thought it was hilarious. Did Mike Scoffins invite his mother to come see his "art"? His grandmother? Did he send them a photo? If not why not? Its just vulgar humor which is about the only way anyone can get a laugh anymore! I submit that not many of the people commenting here would like to be walking down the sidewalk with their mother and see this. If they just wanted to take some photos why didn't they destroy it after taking the photos?
YpSiFoLk
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 6:29 p.m.
The lady that complained about this being obscene is probably the same lady that complained to the city about the word Ypsitucky being derogatory and racist.
Tom Joad
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 5:51 p.m.
So the Taliban stood sentry as he was subtlety encouraged to destroy his 'offensive' handy work?
Jeffersonian Liberal
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 5:35 p.m.
Hey lady, you should be more concerned with the sexually explicit crap the leftist in the Government School System are teaching your kids. The college boys pale in comparison.
tdw
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 5:11 p.m.
@natasha when the water tower was built it was not ment to be a phallic symbol it was just a water tower nothing else.That being said, it has had that rep. for a long time
naturally
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 4:52 p.m.
I wonder if the offended woman is offended whenever she sees the Ypsi water tower....an even larger phallic symbol.
wacky_walrus
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 4:42 p.m.
I saw the sculpture as I passed by on the bus and could tell exactly what it was. Maybe I just have an eye for such things;)
Smiley
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 4:36 p.m.
To kids: It's an albino pickle...it's the Washington monument...it's a finger showing #1... Come on, have some sense or at least a spot of creativity - you don't actually have to provide your youngsters with an anatomy lesson.
djm12652
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 4:23 p.m.
Ok, I looked at the photo...and if anyone was offended by it, the lack of anatomical correctness should be the reason! LOL If kids were asking the woman that was offended, only response needed when asked what it was is "I don't know"...they would have most likely responded with "okay" and gone on to something else.... all of the hullabaloo and societal wrangling is really a huge waste of energy...
dading dont delete me bro
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 3:50 p.m.
looks like a laz-e-boy to me...a snow chair. you know the officer was snickering as it was destroyed. why did,"another person showed up in a city of Ypsilanti vehicle to ensure it was destroyed" no one would believe the police officer that it was destroyed? wonderful waste of two resources for what one could do....and why did the woman feel compelled to explain it to the kids that were asking about it? "well, you know kids, back in the day..." don't tell them anything and keep walking. i think it's funny myself.
breadman
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 3:37 p.m.
Most likely better shape then the water tower! At its best.... newer!
Mark O'Brien
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 3:23 p.m.
Oh come, now, it had to have been a model of the Ypsi water tower.
tdw
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 3:14 p.m.
@bunny cuz its funny
bunnyabbot
Thu, Feb 25, 2010 : 3:06 p.m.
why was this even news?