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King-sized rumor a minor incidentBy AMY HERDY and DAVID KARP
© St. Petersburg Times,
The rumor was that Shaun King had been arrested and someone had it on videotape. Or that he had been pulled over and not arrested because a plainclothes officer intervened. Or he had been in a wreck and not given a ticket ... you get the picture. Reporters hurriedly called the Tampa Police Deartment and Hillsborough Sheriff's Office to ferret out the facts. It wasn't true. Here's what happened, and how it evolved into the ridiculous: Sometime about 3 a.m. Monday, King was involved in some minor incident in the parking lot of Sacks Seafood Grill and House of Jazz. Somebody had a camera, and captured the upset Buc walking around and tossing out a few curse words. An unknown man, later identified as a Florida Highway Patrol trooper in plainclothes, tried to calm King down. End of videotape. As police were questioned about the incident, they did a check to see whether any arrests or traffic stops had happened at that location, roughly, Kennedy and Occident. A man had indeed been arrested, and since he did not have a driver's license, he went to jail. But the man turned out to be an 18-year-old day laborer. Neither King nor the Bucs wanted to talk about the incident. Only one question remains: While we certainly don't know much about playing football, if you're in training, isn't being out at 3 o'clock in the morning a little past your bedtime? WORKING TOWARD HER PENSION: Last week, we told you that former County Judge Elizabeth "Betsey" Hapner was working for Public Defender Julie Holt. She took a temporary research job with Holt this summer after the Florida Supreme Court suspended her law license for 90 days. She then did legal work for Holt after her license was reinstated in July. The suspension followed Hapner's removal from the bench in 1998 for misconduct. Turns out, Hapner had a good reason to take a state job this summer. By taking on the temporary assignment, Hapner qualified for a state pension she otherwise would not have received. Hapner had worked for state agencies for nearly seven years, which was three years short of the 10 years needed to become eligible for a state pension. But the state Legislature changed the law this year, allowing employees to become vested after six years if they were working for the government as of July 1. Hapner began a five-month temporary assignment for Holt in April and left this month, making her eligible. It's not clear how much Hapner can collect from the pension; the state estimated in 1999 that her pension would be worth about $175,000. Hapner says she didn't take the job to get the pension. She claims she already qualified for a pension before working for Holt. The Department of Management Service says that's not so. Holt, who has been losing attorneys in bunches, said she didn't know about Hapner's pension status. She just needed someone to fill in for a lawyer on medical leave. HENDERSON TO RUN: The hopefuls who want to become the next sheriff had marked their calendars for 2004. That's when Sheriff Cal Henderson was supposed to hand over power to a new leader. There was some speculation that Henderson, who has served without opposition since 1992, might step down after this term. He has had health problems and appeared worn down by recent courthouse scandals and the mishandling of the Sabrina Aisenberg missing baby case. But Henderson doesn't plan on fading away. He wants to run for a fourth term in 2004. "That is my plan at this point," Henderson told us. "I am still enjoying the job, at least 80 percent of the time." Henderson won't make a final decision until about 18 months before the election. Waiting in the wings will be Henderson's assistants, namely Col. David Gee and Maj. Rocky Rodriguez, who both are seen as possible successors. - Got a tip? Call Amy Herdy at (813) 226-3386 or David Karp at (813) 226-3376.
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Times columns today Mary Jo Melone |
