ORLANDO, Fla. - Shaquille
O'Neal was present during a botched child pornography raid last month while
working in Virginia as a reserve sheriff's deputy.
The Miami Heat center, who pursues his interest in law enforcement during the
offseason, denied Tuesday taking part in serving the search warrant at the wrong
house Sept. 23. However, Bedford County Sheriff's Lt. Michael Harmony confirmed
to The Associated Press that O'Neal was there.
Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal
(32) and San Antonio Spurs forward Fabricio Oberto, of Argentina, (7)
battle for a loose ball during the first quarter of their NBA basketball
game in San Antonio, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006.
[AP] |
O'Neal, in Orlando to play a preseason game Tuesday, was asked about the raid
and several times somewhat playfully responded, "It wasn't me."
The 13-time All-Star has expressed an interest in becoming a Bedford deputy
or sheriff somewhere else after his NBA career ends. He also works as a
firearms-certified reserve police officer in Miami Beach.
"Of course, being sheriff is a seasoned political position, so we're not
going to be out there knocking down the wrong doors," he said. "We just have to
do the right thing."
A.J. Nuckols, who said his family has filed formal complaints, wrote in a
letter published in the Chatham Star-Tribune that the raid at his Gretna, Va.,
home "scared beyond description" him and his family.
He described being "held at gunpoint, taunted and led into the house," and
said the home was ransacked by a "paramilitary search-and-seizure team" that
took computers, cameras, DVDs and VHS tapes.
"Men ran at me, dropped into shooting position, double-handed semiautomatic
pistols pointed at me, and made me put my hands against my truck," Nuckols
wrote.
Nuckols also said in a telephone interview that he heard O'Neal was at his
home, but didn't specifically see the 7-foot-1, 325-pound All-Star in all the
commotion.
It wasn't until later authorities realized they had been given the wrong IP
address, which Internet service providers can use to identify users, leading
them to the wrong physical address, Harmony said. It was the Internet company's
mistake, he said.
Harmony said the sheriff's office apologized, but Nuckols mischaracterized
the incident. Harmony said officers were wearing bulletproof vests and may have
been in dark or camouflaged clothing, but were not carrying assault rifles or
wearing helmets.
"The sheriff's department does regret that Mr. Nuckols and his family had to
go through this, however we were operating under the scope of what we were
supposed to do," he said.
He said officers had to secure the house to ensure their own safety. Harmony
also said the sheriff's office conducted a successful search on the correct home
Friday, finding child pornography and securing a statement from a man admitting
he knowingly distributed it.
Nuckols said he has filed formal complaints with the Bedford and Pittsylvania
sheriff's offices, who conducted the raid with members of child sex-crime unit
Operation Blue Ridge Thunder.
The Bedford Sheriff's Office enlisted O'Neal to be the spokesman and public
face of its anti-child pornography and child predator campaign, making him a
deputy last year.
Harmony said O'Neal had been on search warrant executions before.
