Dude, Wrong Car: GOP Tracker Tails Judge Instead Of Senate Candidate

An Indiana GOP tracker sent to follow Rep. Joe Donnelly, the Democratic nominee for Senate, instead followed a criminal court judge who feared that he was being stalked.

As first reported in the Indianapolis Star, 49-year old tracker Kurt Holland followed the car of Judge Jose Salinas, after a local Democratic picnic Saturday in the Indianapolis area. When the judge noticed a mysterious person was following him — for 16 miles — he pulled into a parking lot, briefly followed Holland’s car in order to get his license plate number, and called the police.

Salinas told TPM that as the county’s drug court judge, his duties do involve sentencing people to prison: “And you know what, we have to deal with this stuff all the time, people not liking what we do, people not liking our rulings.”

The Police Report:
ATTENTION MARION COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE - ON JULY 28, 2012, AT APPROXIMATELY 1 PM, A SUBJECT WAS SEEN BY THOSE ATTENDING A DEMOCRATIC MEETING AT 7201 CHALIS COURT IN INDIANAPOLIS. THIS PERSON WAS TAKING PHOTOS OF THE GATHERING AND OF PEOPLE COMING AND GOING. AT THIS TIME JUDGE JOSE SALINAS LEFT THE EVENT AND NOTICED THE CAMERMAN WAS FOLLOWING HIM. THE JUDGE, WHO IS A CRIMINAL COURT JUDGE, AND HAS RECEIVED THREATS IN THE PAST, WAS CONCERNED FOR HIS SAFETY. THE PERSON FOLLOWED THE JUDGE IN A GRAY TOYOTA, WITH INDIANA PLATE (redacted)EVENTUALLY JUDGE SALINAS PULLED INTO A PARKING LOT AT RAYMOND AND SHELBY STREET JUST OFF OF I-65. THE SUBJECT PULLED INTO THE LOT THEN LEFT THE AREA. THE PLATE COMES BACK TO A(redacted), (redacted) SOUTH WINDSOR DRIVE. UPON ARRIVAL AT THE LISTED ADDRESS, A MAN NAMED KURT ALAN HOLLAND, W/M(redacted), WAS LOCATED AND AGREED TO AN INTERVIEW. MR. HOLLAND ADMITTED TO PHOTOGRAPHING THE EVENT AND CHASING AFTER JUDGE SALINAS BUT SAYS HE THOUGHT HE WAS FOLLOWING JOE DONNELLY. MR. HOLLAND SAYS HE WORKS FOR PETE SEAT OF THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE. THE ASSIGNMENT WAS TO REVEAL HOW THE “PARTY OF THE POOR” IS ACTUALLY LED BY RICH PEOPLE, IN NICE CARS, IN RICH NEIGHBORHOODS. THE PHOTOS WERE TO BE USED FOR TV POLITICAL CAMPAIGN ADVERTISEMENTS. MR. HOLLAND CLAIMS HE DID NOT KNOW JUDGE SALINAS WAS IN THE VEHICLE HE TAILED. MARION COUNTY DEPUTIES MADE CONTACT WITH JUDGE SALINAS TO ASSURE THE SAFETY OF HIM AND HIS FAMILY.