Butt-dialing court official runs to woods to hide

[brassmonkey]

David Bookstaver, the highly paid communications director for the Office of Court Administration, opted to hide in the woods Thursday after he got word that he no longer needed to fail to show up for work.

Bookstaver was canned by red-faced state court higher-ups confronted with The Post?s front-page story ? and online audio ? that revealed the fallen flak?s voicemail confession that ?I?m not doing anything. I barely show up to work and I?ve been caught.?

Confronted by two Post staffers near his upstate Warwick vacation home, Bookstaver, 58, jumped down a four-foot embankment and disappeared into a thicket rather than discuss the humiliating end to his 21-year career with OCA.

?Go away, you?re on private property. I?ll have you locked up,? Bookstaver fumed when he later emerged.

Bookstaver ? who was wearing cargo shorts and a blue Supreme Court Officers Association T-shirt ? then hopped into a silver Ford Edge, whose driver whisked him home. Court officials acknowledged that Bookstaver ? whose salary topped $166,000 a year ? was canned first thing Thursday morning because of the exposé.

?While there are occasional abuses of office, we take those abuses extremely seriously and whenever we learn about them, we will always act to hold the offenders accountable,? said OCA spokesman Lucian Chalfen.

Preparation of The Post?s report included contacting Bookstaver on Sunday for comment on claims that he?d been showing up at his office as little as two days a week for 18-plus months.

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