Whoa! ‘Mule Man’ should drop frivolous lawsuit over his Paso Robles arrest

John C. Sears — AKA “Mule Man” or just “Mule” — loves to poke the bear.

The bear, in this case, being a society he refers to as a “Megatropolis” — described on his website as “the man-made world, spreading sprawling concrete, putting up lanes, putting up buildings everywhere.”

We’ve lost track of the number of minor run-ins he’s had with authorities as he roams the West with his two mules, Little Girl and Little Ethel, sometimes violating no-camping ordinances, other times creating traffic hazards. (He was once taken into custody near Gilroy for walking alongside the shoulder of Highway 101, slowing traffic to a near standstill, then refusing to leave when contacted by the California Highway Patrol.)

Last year, he was arrested in the Paso Robles area for allegedly failing to follow a CHP officer’s command to move to the shoulder of Nacimiento Lake Road after at least seven motorists complained he was creating a safety hazard.

There’s a dispute as to whether Sears was actually blocking the road — and even if he were, he claims he and his mules have every right to use the a public roadway.

The case against Sears was ultimately dropped, as such cases generally are.

After all, what be-suited county prosecutor wants to risk the public acrimony that would surely follow if they threw the book at a grizzled, harmless-looking, 73-year-old frontiersman who wanders (mostly) back roads with his trusty mules, preaching about the need to protect the Natural World?

They’d be better off taking Kris Kringle to court.

So yes, Mule Man has more or less been given free rein by law enforcement.

But that apparently is not enough for him.

As a result of last year’s arrest in SLO County, Sears has filed a lawsuit against the CHP in an effort to “preserve his historic way of life.”

The suit points out that California’s vehicle code says that mules, horses and other animals are allowed to be ridden on public roads.

“Plaintiff has a natural, constitutional and statutory right to travel the public thoroughfares while driving an animal (in this case a mule) without fear of arrest,” it continues.

Sears is seeking attorney’s fees and damages, including reimbursement for $266 he paid to bail Little Girl and Little Ethel out of the SLO County animal shelter, where they were taken following his arrest.

He also is asking for an injunction to prohibit the CHP from arresting him when he’s traveling public roads with his mules.

It’s time for a reality check.

Sears is a sympathetic figure, a throwback to a time when cowpokes rode their horses into town and hitched them up in front of the local saloon. But those days are long gone, and there are occasions when it’s unsafe for Sears and his team to be on the road.

We like Mule Man — who doesn’t? — and we’re all for cutting him some slack when it’s appropriate.

But that works both ways. Sears should be willing to bend as well, rather than stubbornly insisting on his right to rule the road and to set up camp wherever he pleases — and then filing a lawsuit in an attempt to prove his point.

His mules — and his free spirit — do not guarantee Sears safe passage on the highways and byways of this 21st century Megatropolis.

We urge Mule Man to drop this frivolous lawsuit. There are plenty of other ways to poke the bear.