VVM top dogs arrested for writing an article—and released

Village Voice Media execs and New Times founders Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin (aka the guys who sign our paychecks at OC Weekly, and at LA Weekly) were arrested at their Arizona homes late Thursday night for revealing grand jury information in a story they published earlier in the day, "Breathtaking Abuse of the Constitution," which revealed that Phoenix New Times was under grand jury subpoena for its reporting on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Larkin was released later in the evening, while Lacey was held till around 4 a.m. this morning.

New Times reporter Stephen Lemons blogs the drama here and here, and wraps up with his own two cents:

"It ain't often that you go downtown in the middle of the night to see your boss released from the hoosegow. Especially under these circumstances. I've read of reporters being arrested and/or incarcerated, but not newspaper owners. Maybe this is pretty normal stuff for Myanmar or Iran, however Arizona's still in the U.S. last time I checked. Someone should alert Arpaio, and send him a copy of the Bill of Rights while you're at it."

More coverage: Arizona Republic, New York Times, AP, LA Observed

UPDATE: Case against New Times dropped. Read Bill Jensen's coverage here.