Thu. September 15, 2005
Miami Beach, FL -
Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal is getting high praise for an assist off the courts after tracking a suspect which lead to the arrest of an alleged gay basher over the weekend.
The 7-foot-1 basketball and film star, who is currently in training to become a Miami Beach reserve officer, was driving through South Beach about 3 a.m. Sunday when he saw the suspect, a passenger in a silver Honda, yell anti-gay slurs at a gay couple, said Bobby Hernandez, spokesman for the Miami Beach Police Department.
The suspect, 18-year old Michael Gonzalez, then got out of the car and threw a bottle, hitting one of the pedestrians, who was not seriously hurt.
The man then got back in the car and it sped off, but O'Neal followed. “He flagged down the Miami Beach officer on duty there, and the officer was able to apprehend the subject,'” Hernandez said.
Gonzalez was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and assault with a deadly weapon. The Honda's driver was not charged.
O'Neal, who hopes to be a police chief or county sheriff one day, was already being fitted for his Miami Beach police uniform before the incident.
“For this incident I don't want to be credited as an individual who does police work,” O'Neal said in a statement. “I want to be credited as a Miami Beach police officer.”
Written By Ross von Metzke
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