Posted on 01/20/2009 6:53:12 PM PST by devane617
TAMPA -- The arrest of Fox 13 news anchor Russell Rhodes, who has a black eye and bloodied face in his mugshot, is under review by Internal Affairs, officials from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said today.
"Any time there's a high-profile incident or any incident that the sheriff wishes to have reviewed," an internal review is initiated, said J.D. Callaway, spokesman for the Sheriff's Office. "We'll look at all the available evidence and make sure the deputies acted properly."
Rhodes, a morning news anchor for Fox 13's Good Day Tampa Bay, was arrested Friday night, allegedly after resisting arrest.
Around 10:15 p.m., an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security at Channelside spotted a 2006 BMW 325i weaving erratically in the public parking garage, Callaway said.
The deputy stopped the BMW and the driver, Rhodes, got out, reportedly with his belt undone and his pants unbuttoned, though they were still up. Rhodes appeared to be intoxicated, Callaway said.
According to the deputy, Rhodes tried to walk away from him twice after being ordered to stay put and surrender his car keys. Rhodes didn't identify himself or try to use his name to get out of the situation, Callaway said. When Rhodes tried to run out of the garage, the deputy grabbed him, Callaway said.
He had his car key in his right hand, and when deputies tried to take it, he began waving his hands to keep them from taking it, an arrest affidavit states.
"He began to flail his arms," Callaway said. That's when he was "taken to the ground." Callaway said injuries to Rhodes' face happened when he hit the ground.
He then said he was sorry and that he had panicked because he works for Fox 13, the report states.
Rhodes was taken to Tampa General Hospital for cuts and bruises to his face and then was booked into the Orient Road Jail, Callaway said. He was charged with obstructing an officer without violence and was released Saturday morning on $500 bail.
Blood samples were taken to see if he was intoxicated. The results should be back next week, Callaway said. Depending on the outcome, he could face an additional charge of driving under the influence.
Rhodes is from Paris, Texas, and has been with Tampa Bay's Fox station since 1994, according to his biography on the Fox Web site. He originally wanted to be an actor or singer, but went into broadcast journalism.
He went to the University of Oklahoma and worked at stations in Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota and then Tampa Bay.
"I used to say I had the best job in the news business," he said on the Web site, referring to his promotion from Good Day feature reporter to co-anchor. "This new one may be better."
Fox 13 offered a brief comment when contacted about the arrest.
"He will not be on the air Monday," said Jessica Moss, spokeswoman for Fox 13. For all other questions, she referred to a story on the station's Web site that briefly recounts the incident and says "FOX 13 management is aware of the matter and is reviewing it."
Is he related to Randi Rhodes? I think I see some family resemblence in that picture on the left.
Attention dumb bastards: Resisting arrest and running away will get your behind kicked every, single, time.
Lots of Freepers think anytime one is disrepectful to officers of the State they should be beaten to the ground and have their face kicked in.
I assume it’ll be just a matter of time ‘til they, in turn, are smashed to the ground and have their faces kicked in.
Of course, THEN it will be the infringement of their rights, just like this is, but it will be happening to them, not an officer of the State.
Ed
The guy in the wheelchair that was dumped was in Tampa/Hillsboro County. They have a very bad rep down there. I lived there for a while, and you see stories like this all the time.
That seems to be a rather tenuous line between public good and abuse of power. While I agree that a police officer should be able to enforce the law while off-duty, I do not agree that private sector entities should be the beneficiary.
Not to belabor the point but we the people lend certain of our rights to government. One of those is the right not be be imprisoned. By allowing government to hold this right we have a better society. That being said, Walmart, Sears, etc are NOT government and as far as I can tell have never been granted a damn thing by the citizens of this country. So why then should their employees have police power, regardless of what that employee does for a living.
They will also let you know that the same officers patrolling your area while on duty are available to provide additional coverage after hours if you are willing to pay for the service.
It is a way of providing police coverage without adding personnel or increasing the budget. If you want more than the standard coverage you have to pay for it.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm just saying that's the way the system works. So people who pay the extra for real police protection or security expect the officer to have the authority to actually enforce the law.
I know a Sheriff’s Dept. deputy who makes more on his after hours work than he does on his scheduled tours.
Hillsborough County
fixed it for you
as a Tampa native, I think you are wrong about the cops
Brought his face to a pavement fight.
Ouch!
Possible , sounds like he was coming back from nite on the town!
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