Picture Connecticut: State Groundhog Served Warrant For 'Fraud'

HARTFORD COUNTY, CT — The latest image in the Picture Connecticut series depicts a tense moment at the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester. It was there that Chuckles, the state groundhog, was served an arrest warrant for "defrauding the public."

Authorities were "holding him responsible" for a foot of snow falling on the area nine days after he failed to see his shadow on Groundhog Day and predicted an early spring.

The Guilford Police Department secured the warrant with the cooperation of Manchester police.

An official police statement said:

"Chuckles cooperated with authorities and turned himself in at Manchester PD earlier today. Guilford PD set the bond at $10,000 and Chuckles will have his day in court to plead his case. The forecast for more snow doesn't help his defense."

Manchester Mayor Jay Moran, the only person who can speak Groundhog, could not be reached for comment about and pending legal matters.

Everyone had a good laugh over the light-hearted moment, police said.

____

Picture Connecticut is a weekly series that features images of the state, past and present.Here are past images:
2024

• Historic Wartime Sutures, Willington
• Big Business Week In CT, statewide
• The Marketplace at Guilford Food Center Guilford
• Main Street at night, Middletown
• The Hide-and-Seek Bear, Tolland
• The MLK Mural, Manchester
• The Mount Southington Summit, Southington

2023

• All Faiths Gather At Town Park, Vernon
• Riverside Igloos, Milford
• The TPC Pro Shop, Cromwell
• The Santa House, North Pole, er, Northern Connecticut
• Mile 4 Funnel, Manchester Road Race, Manchester
• UConn Lacrosse Giving Back, Connecticut River Valley
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 3, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 2, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 1, Hartford
• The Doughboy, East Hartford
• The Walt Whitman Stone, West Hartford
• The indoor bush plane, Hartford County
• The Big Pink Chair, Ellington
• The Notch, Granby
• The CT 9/11 Monument, Westport
• Vintage Gas Pump, Somers
• Tobacco Harvest, East Windsor
• Late Afternoon, Lakeside, Coventry
• Fogarea, New Haven County
• Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, Washington Depot
• Connecticut River Police Boat, Rocky Hill
• The first dentist, Windsor
• The Frog Bridge, Willimantic
• The World War Bridge Rapids, Putnam
• The Peeking Cow, Tolland County
• The Ivy Lacrosse Tournament, New Canaan
• The Bradley International Airport runway, Windsor Locks
• The Underground Railroad, Unionville
• The cow carousel, Ellington
• Charles Island, Milford
• State Veterans Cemetery, Middletown
• Glastonbury-Rocky Hill Ferry, Glastonbury/Rocky Hill
• The Old County Jailhouse, Tolland
• Agent Orange Monument, Andover
• The Sunken Garden, Farmington
• Lafayette Tour Monument, Vernon
• The Pinchot Sycamore, Simsbury
• Bob's Discount Furniture Studios, Manchester