HOLLYWOOD – Rush and Apollo 13 director Ron Howard has been arrested following the discovery at his California ranch of an illegal mime farm.
Over 150 mimes were rescued from what police officers described as ‘inhuman conditions’.
Officer Shelly McReth of the Special Mime Unit told the Studio Exec EXCLUSIVELY:
You see some pretty disgraceful things in this job, the kind of things you think will harden you, but in all my years of law enforcement and work amongst mimes, this is perhaps the most flagrant and revolting exploitation of mimes I have ever seen. We found fifty mimes crammed into one invisible glass box which at most was only ever supposed to hold twelve.
How did Howard come to capture so many?
We believe that the Happy Days star trapped the mimes by asking them to carry heavy luggage on a windy day, sometimes while being dragged into a net by a gust filled umbrella.
Many neighbors in the area where Howard has his mansion expressed astonishment at the revelations.
This is a really quiet neighborhood. We never noticed anything. But then again, actually it being quiet… well… that probably is understandable now that I think about it.
Why Howard was keeping the mimes, whether it was to sell them to illegal Mexican mime clubs or for his own personal gratification is as yet unclear, but if found guilty of the accusations, Howard could be looking at a fine as high as $240.
As to whether the Howard’s arrest will unduly effect his next project – a biopic based on the life of Marcel Marceau – there is as yet no word.
