The Ferris Wheel Was Spinning. Then Staff Spotted This Pair

Michael Mathisen and Lauren Wilder arrested after allegedly having sex on Cincinnati ride
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 30, 2019 7:30 AM CDT
Couple Accused of Dizzying Sex Act, 150 Feet in the Air
Michael Mathisen, left, and Lauren Wilder.   (Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, via Fox News)

If we had to score this next alleged crime, Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round" would probably work. Cops say that, instead of simply taking in the view from Cincinnati's SkyStar Ferris wheel on Thursday evening, a man and his girlfriend instead got busy during the four-spin, 12-minute ride, apparently in full view of kids and other ride patrons, Fox News reports. One of the managers of the 150-foot-high observation Ferris wheel—which the New York Post notes is the largest such portable ride of its kind in the US—tells the Cincinnati Enquirer that during one of the rotations, staff saw the couple having sex as their glass-enclosed gondola got closer to the ground. "The couple made eye contact and continued doing what they were doing," Todd Schneider says.

The ride was immediately stopped, and Michael Mathisen, 30, and Lauren Wilder, 31, were detained by an off-duty police officer specifically hired for crowd control or "in anticipation of any type of incident like this," says Schneider. Wilder was arrested for disorderly conduct and released on her own recognizance that evening; Mathisen was arrested for disorderly conduct while intoxicated and released the next day. Schneider says he thinks the accused "weren't thinking correctly," perhaps because of the hubbub surrounding the first day of the 2019 baseball season for the Cincinnati Reds. "It's a festive day, festive environment," he notes. "I think we're probably lucky if that's the only thing that happened." (More weird crimes stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X