November 05, 2003
Bucs player claims $70,000 loss
Buccaneers' offensive lineman Kenyatta Walker may want to tackle whoever swiped $70,000 worth of jewelry from his 2002 Ford Excursion, police said.Someone jimmied a lock of Walker's sport utility vehicle after the 24-year-old parked outside Malio's Steak House, 301 S. Dale Mabry Highway, about 12:30 p.m. Monday, Tampa police said.
Walker flagged down a passing officer to report a $2,000 entertainment system and a video game missing, police said. He did not notice the jewelry missing until he returned home about 30 minutes later, police said.
Investigators plan to check with pawn shops to recover Walker's $20,000 diamond-faced Rolex watch and a $50,000 platinum necklace with two charms, a diamond-studded football and Walker's initials, police said.
The Super Bowl star is earning $540,000 with the Bucs this year, records show, and often starts at right tackle. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Auto burglaries are a citywide problem but have increased along Dale Mabry Highway between Interstate 275 and Swann Avenue, police said.
``Had Mr. Walker taken these valuables with him, he would not have experienced a loss of this magnitude,'' police spokesman Capt. Bob Guidara said.
Uh, so, this guy took $70,000 worth of jewelry with him to Malios so he could look good and pick up on some drunken South Tampa Bucs groupies, and then he decided to leave said jewelry in the car, 'cause, like, you know, he didn't wanna like come across as too flashy or anything, right?
His Ford Excretion gets broken into. Somehow, he notices his VCR and Nintendo missing, but doesn't notice the jewelry's gone until he gets home? Can anyone say "Insurance fraud"?
And while I’m on the subject of Bucs and the law, what the fuck is Michael Pittman still doing playing for this team, or any team, for that matter, after ramming his own kid with an SUV?
Posted by Norwood at November 5, 2003 11:41 PM