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Web site turns up 'Bachelor' contestant's arrest
By ERIC DEGGANS, Times TV Critic
© St. Petersburg Times Christina Sztanko always knew that appearing on ABC's reality TV hit The Bachelor would bring a microscopic focus on her personal history. But the Palm Harbor woman found out just how closely the world was watching, after a report released Thursday on TheSmokingGun.com Web site detailing her arrest in 2000 for firing a gun near a bay area elementary school. Sztanko, 24, faced a misdemeanor firearms charge for the incident, in which her then-boyfriend bought her a handgun for her birthday and the two test-fired the weapon in a parking lot at Highland Lakes Elementary School in Palm Harbor. Through a pretrial intervention program for first offenders, she was allowed to complete 50 hours of community service, give up the weapon, complete a safety course on firearms and write a letter of apology to have the matter expunged from her record. The Web site said she was required to serve her community service at the school, but Sztanko said she volunteered at Tampa Bay Harvest -- a bay area charity that picks up excess food from businesses and gives it to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens. "They're making me out to be some gun-toting wild woman, which I am so not," said Sztanko, who was among 15 women shown Wednesday moving past The Bachelor's first round, chosen by bachelor Andrew Firestone for a series of televised dates that would eventually allow him to select one woman -- possibly to marry. According to the Smoking Gun item, Sztanko's then-boyfriend, Alexandros Kastrandas, bought her a nickel-plated .25-caliber automatic gun on June 8, 2000. The two went to a parking lot to fire the weapon at night, with Sztanko shooting into some bushes and Kastrandas firing into the school's marquee and a stop sign at the facility's entrance. The Web site links to a copy of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office incident report and a document from the 6th Judicial Circuit describing the misdemeanor charge -- both of which spell her last name "Sktanko." Sztanko, who said she broke up with Kastrandas a few years ago, expected the matter would be wiped from her record. A recent background check by the St. Petersburg Times only revealed a number of speeding and traffic violations for Sztanko, including a 1995 ticket for driving without headlights. Since the latest Bachelor installment was filmed earlier this year, the incident isn't likely to affect her status on the show, according to an ABC spokeswoman. (As the Web site noted ironically, Sztanko was shown Wednesday questioning Firestone pointedly about whether he was a hunter.) "I've dealt with rumors my whole life ... it's just (multiplied) by 100 now," said Sztanko, who also shrugged off a story in next week's National Enquirer saying she remains "haunted" by the death of her father from cancer nearly 10 years ago. "They're trying to drag everyone through the mud," she added. "I'm not worried about it ... (but) I don't think it's fair."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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