Minor Iowa Arrest Makes Headlines

SEPTEMBER 27--Meet David Jonathan Winkelman.

The Iowa man, 48, was arrested Thursday night by Davenport cops on a warrant for failing to appear in court to answer a misdemeanor charge of operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, according to a jail booking sheet.

But enough about Winkelman’s criminal entanglements, it’s his forehead tattoo that is worth further discussion. Winkelman is pictured at right in a mug shot snapped after his bust last week (click to enlarge).

Winkelman became a human billboard for the radio station KORB in late-2000 after a disc jockey offered listeners a six-figure payout if they tattooed the FM station’s call letters and logo on their forehead. Winkelman and his stepson, Richard Goddard, went to a local tattoo parlor and each emerged with forehead ink promoting “93 Rock,” the “Quad City Rocker.”

Of course, when the men came calling for the cash, station brass explained that the offer was a practical joke, just a wacky radio stunt. Winkelman and his relative sued, claiming that the station sought to have listeners permanently marked so that they “could be publicly scorned and ridiculed for their greed and lack of common good sense."

Within months of the lawsuit’s filing, Winkelman dismissed his complaint against the DJ and Cumulus Broadcasting, KORB’s owner. Goddard’s case was later dismissed by a judge when he failed to appear for court proceedings.

Since Winkelman got the tattoo KORB’s format and call letters have changed. The former hard rock station is now known as KQCS, Star 93.5. The adult contemporary station advertises itself as playing “Today’s Best Variety!” (2 pages)