When 71-year-old Arslan Guney drew one-by-one-inch squares on the basketball court of the Central Park Recreation Center, he only wanted to make it easier for others to play the fast-growing game of pickleball. Instead, he was accused of criminal mischief, a felony, and turned himself in to the Denver Police Department on March 24.
Turns out that when Guney redrew those pickleball lines originally put on the court by rec center staffers, he'd used a permanent marker, one that a staffer had supplied without knowing what he planned to do with it. According to the warrant for Guney's arrest, when employees tried to remove the marks, the cleaning product ended up removing the finish on the floor, too, causing $9,344.58 in damages.
Denver Parks and Recreation reported Guney's actions to the DPD and indefinitely banned him from all Denver Parks and Recreation centers and anywhere else the department is hosting a program on March 15. The department also posted a sign saying pickleball was canceled at the recreation center until further notice, though it resumed on March 23, as news of Guney's predicament spread.
Guney is a key member of the vibrant pickleball community at Central Park, with some players there calling him the "Mayor of Pickleball." He's known for his patience with beginners and was working on a map showing where staffers might be able to set up pickleball courts, after he was told it wasn't possible for the department to add permanent pickleball lines to the basketball court.
On March 29, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced that her office won't charge Guney with any criminal counts. "The parties will attempt to resolve this matter through mediation with a city mediator," she said in a statement. "I am optimistic that by sitting down and working out a mutually-agreeable solution, this matter can be solved amicably.”
In a statement issued by his attorney, Hollynd Hoskins, Guney expressed gratitude that no criminal charges have been filed, but said he worries the threat could reappear if mediation doesn't go well. The court still has April 7 reserved as the date for his second criminal advisement. In the meantime, he's appealing his suspension from Denver Parks and Recreation facilities.
As mediation gets under way, we'd like to suggest some appropriate punishments for those involved in this incident:
For Arslan Guney:
Since Denver Parks and Recreation is struggling with demands for more pickleball courts, as well as noise complaints from neighbors of the courts that do exist, sentence Guney to fielding the department's pickleball-related calls for a week.
According to Hoskins, Guney had offered to organize the Central Park pickleball community to teach at-risk youth the game, but didn't receive a reply from Parks and Recreation. In a win-win scenario, he could be sentenced to holding those after-school pickleball classes for kids.
A third option: Guney could buy a round of pickle shots (or a jar of pickles, sans alcohol) for Parks and Recreation staffers. They could probably use a pick-me-up after all the self-induced hubbub.
For Denver Parks and Recreation:
If Guney's request for a more effective way to stripe the Central Park Recreation Center's courts for pickleball had been granted, this mess would never have happened. A fitting punishment: Immediately add at least two permanent pickleball courts to the facility, It's conveniently closed for maintenance on April 1.
And no joke, the department should be sentenced to a course on the difference between a misunderstanding and an actual crime.
For Denver, which issued the initial warrant for Guney's arrest:
A paddling with a pickleball paddle for even thinking such action was appropriate.