
Babe Ruth (left) fishing at Island Lake in Brighton.
Babe Ruth was once arrested and taken to court in Howell
It’s been widely reported through the years that Babe Ruth, the greatest baseball legend of all time, used to spend a lot of time fishing at Island Lake in Brighton.
What isn’t widely known, though, is that one of those fishing trips landed him in trouble with the law.
According to newspaper accounts at the time, the Bambino was arrested and taken to court in Howell in June of 1926 for the high crimes of fishing out of season and taking undersized fish. Step aside, Bonnie and Clyde!
Not surprisingly, it was something of a spectacle in Howell when the Babe showed up at the Livingston County Courthouse. Thankfully for him, the charges were dropped on a technicality.
(Spent many nights hiking around Island Lake after the state park closed for the day. 26,000 acres all to myself. No one ever paid attention to me, seeing my Crown Vic parked outside the gates. Cool, Babe Ruth himself also appreciated the beautiful park.)