DOCUMENT: Sex, Crime

Duo Busted For Observation Wheel Sex

Couple nabbed after joining 1/35 mile-high club

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Wheely Wild

MARCH 29--A couple was arrested last night after they had sex in front of children while riding inside a gondola on a 150-foot observation wheel in downtown Cincinnati, according to court filings.

Police allege that Lauren Wilder, 31, and Michael Mathisen, 30, engaged in an illicit tryst while on the SkyStar wheel, which is adjacent to the Ohio River and the Great American Ballpark, where the Cincinnati Reds yesterday afternoon opened the baseball season.

According to criminal complaints filed in Municipal Court, Wilder and Mathisen were both intoxicated when they “engaged in sexual intercourse in the open in front of children and adults.”

Wilder and Mathisen, seen in the above mug shots, were each charged with disorderly conduct and booked into the Hamilton County jail on the misdemeanor count.

They are both scheduled for a court appearance this afternoon. Wilder lives in North College Hill, a Cincinnati suburb, while Mathisen resides in Florence, Kentucky.

According to the SkyStar web site, the wheel contains “36 climate-controlled gondolas” that can accommodate up to six passengers. Tickets cost $12.50 for the 12-minute ride, which provides riders with “spectacular views as they soar nearly 15 stories over Cincinnati’s Riverfront Park!” (1 page)