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Belden faces no charges in bar incident

The woman who reported his behavior wanted to drop the matter.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published November 14, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT Tax collector Doug Belden promised to get help for alcohol abuse. Watch security video released by police

TAMPA - By the time Hillsborough's tax collector approached Julie Irwin, Doug Belden had spent hours at the Harbour Island bar.

A waiter cut off his alcohol, but that didn't stop friends from buying him drinks, the waiter told police. Soon after, the situation soured.

"Honestly, I've never had anybody that aggressively pursue someone when there's all these other people saying, 'Go away, she doesn't want you around her,' " Irwin told police. "He was slurring, he was wobbling, sweating a lot."

Belden, 52, will not face charges for his drunken advances at Jackson's Bistro, Pinellas County prosecutors announced Monday.

It appears Irwin wasn't Belden's only target that night. A security tape released by police shows him touching three other women at the bar and kissing one of them.

The video was released Monday, after Irwin told prosecutors she didn't want to pursue the case.

The investigation's closure triggered the release of police evidence, including witness statements.

The tape is blurred and silent, but it shows Belden sit down at the bar beside Irwin, pet her dog and lean in close to her several times. At the end of the encounter, he leans in again and appears to kiss her cheek.

Wine and booze

The incident happened on a Thursday night, when Belden and Preston Trigg, director of administration and special projects for the tax collector, went out for dinner.

They arrived at Jackson's between 5 and 5:30 p.m. and stayed into the night, Trigg told police.

Both were drinking. Trigg drank beer, and Belden had some glasses of Chablis and a Bacardi and Coke and, later, coffee with Amaretto, according to accounts from Trigg and bartender Patrick Vantreese.

At 9:30 p.m., Belden walked up to a blond woman sitting at the outdoor bar. A Boston terrier was perched on her lap.

The woman was Irwin, 38, a claims representative for the Social Security Administration and a jewelry designer. Earlier, she had dined with her boyfriend. By the time she encountered Belden, she was alone.

The tape shows Belden putting his head against Irwin's chest and letting her dog, Babar, lick his face.

Belden's head bobbed down toward Irwin's chest, and she leaned away from him.

"He touched me, he grabbed me, he touched my cheek," she told a reporter Monday. "He was rubbing the dog. His hands brushed my breasts."

Bartender Vantreese told police he asked Belden to stop. When Belden kept on touching, Vantreese asked Trigg for help.

Trigg put an arm around Belden and pointed back toward their table. Trigg turned to go, but Belden stayed behind. He kissed Irwin's cheek and handed her his business card, a move that disgusted her.

"I think it was reprehensible that he threw out his ID and tried to throw out his position," she said.

Irwin called her boyfriend. As she told him what had happened, she said, she saw Belden approach the three other women.

"He kissed them, at least one of them I saw for sure," she said. "Touching them, touching their backs. The whole thing is so strange, that people really behave that way."

The next day, Irwin and her boyfriend decided Belden's behavior should not go unnoticed. They called City Hall.

Protecting her image

Someone at City Hall called police. Irwin learned of the criminal investigation when a police officer left a message on her phone. Early on, she did not respond to media requests for interviews.

After Belden told a Times reporter he never touched Irwin, she decided to pursue a criminal case. She felt he was damaging her reputation, calling her a liar.

"It was very, very upsetting," she said of Belden's denial.

The videotape vindicated Irwin. It proved she had not lied about the encounter. That's what she wanted out of all this, she said.

She also wanted Belden to get help for his alcohol problem, which he promised to do.

"I truly think that he's probably a decent guy when he's not drinking," she said. "I never intended to hurt him, but he definitely needs help, and I hope that he pursues it, I truly do."

Belden and Trigg referred questions to attorney Norman Cannella.

"Doug has been in treatment," Cannella said. "He said he was going to take care of it, and he has. He is seeking professional help. I hope to hell it's the end of it."

Irwin said she hopes so, too.

Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com.

[Last modified November 14, 2006, 00:31:52]