Bargain price

Recently, Del. Jon S. Cardin (nephew of Ben Cardin) proposed marriage to his girlfriend in perhaps the most unromantic and foolish way imaginable: he borrowed a friend's boat and arranged to have it raided by police while the Foxtrot helicopter circled overhead to make her think it was a drug raid. The police "found" the ring and Cardin, lamely, proposed.

After the bad press, Cardin agreed to reimburse the city for his foolish prank. How much would you guess that this incident cost the city in personnel time and use of a police boat and helicopter? $5,000? $10,000? $15,000? Well, those numbers are apparently way too high.

The amount that Cardin was asked to reimburse the city was $300. I wonder if the Baltimore City Police do birthday parties? I think I might hire them.