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Ex-cheerleader avoids trial

Victoria Renee Thomas has agreed to do community service and take an anger management class for her role in a brawl in a bar restroom.

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS
Published March 13, 2006

TAMPA - The former Carolina Panthers cheerleader accused of having sex with a fellow squad member in a bathroom stall at Banana Joe's in Channelside and then punching a bar patron last November will not face a criminal trial.

Victoria Renee Thomas, 21, was charged with a felony for giving a false name to law enforcement, and misdemeanors for battery and the unlawful display of a license.

She appeared in Hillsborough Circuit Court Monday to accept the conditions of an 18-month pretrial intervention program and she will need to complete to keep her criminal record clean.

Terms of the program include 50 hours of community service, a 12-week anger management course and $400 in court costs. She will need to alert authorities if she changes her residence, and cannot profit financially from the notoriety of the case.

Thomas can meet the conditions of the program in North Carolina, so she will not need to return to Tampa for her criminal charges. However, she is still being sued in civil court by Melissa Holden, the bar patron accusing Thomas of punching her in the eye.

The Tampa bar brawl began after Thomas and Angela Keathley, 26, allegedly tied up a restroom stall while angry bar patrons heard them having sex. When bar patron Holden complained of the long wait, Thomas punched her in the eye, Holden said.

Police say Thomas initially identified herself as another cheerleader on the team. Thomas and Keathley have since been fired from the Topcats cheerleading squad.

In January, Keathley pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing a police officer. She was also placed in a pretrial intervention program for first-timeoffenders, which includes six months probation and 32 hours of community service.

In court Monday, Thomas' attorney denied that any inappropriate conduct occurred inside the bathroom stall.

Alexandra Zayas can be reached at 813-226-3354 or azayas@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 13, 2006, 12:20:01]