 |
Celebrity in a cell All is Forgiven: He's FamousBy Rick Horowitz
MILWAUKEE -- "Negative! Negative! Negative!" the critics cry. "Can't you people ever talk about some good news?" Good point. Why not find a story that breaks the mold, that confounds expectations? For that matter, how about a story that tosses certain nasty stereotypes right into the trash can? Wouldn't that be a nice change? I've got just the story for you. In fact, it happened only a few miles west of here, in the tony precincts of Waukesha County. Admit it: You've had it up to your eyeballs with one more account of one more police department crossing the decency line in dealing with the public. If they're not coercing a confession, or roughing up some perp just for the fun of it, or even using deadly force when there's no particular reason to use deadly force, they're arrogant and disrespectful and they treat people like dirt. Not this time. Not some of the dedicated officers of the Waukesha County sheriff's department. Disrespecting a suspect? Don't be silly -- they asked for his autograph! You wouldn't think it would be their first reaction. After all, the suspect in question, a 31-year-old local man, married and the father of two, had been arrested on allegations that he had sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl at a post-prom party. According to affidavits filed in the case, this guy and two other men -- one of them 42 years old, the other one unidentified and as-yet undated -- were playing drinking games in the wee hours with the high school kids. At some point, the affidavits allege, this guy and his 42-year-old pal, wearing only their underwear, joined two females, aged 17 and 18 and drunk on vodka, in the hot tub. And at some point after that, this guy allegedly took the 17-year-old's hand, "led her into the bathroom, closed the door and locked it." He then removed the girl's clothes, the affidavit says, and had sexual intercourse with her. They're allegations -- not admissions, not proof. The investigation had barely gotten started when the suspect was taken off to jail; maybe other facts were still waiting to be discovered that would make this guy look like something other than a major sleazebag. Still, you'd think the mere possibility that it had happened the way the girls claimed it happened would be enough to earn this guy the hairy eyeball at the county jail. And why not? Somebody on the force must have had a teenage daughter, or a niece, or a neighbor; the very idea that the "adult supervision" at one of these parties could be preying on one of their own had to send chills up the spine. They must have struggled to keep their emotions in check; give them a little bit of credit for not deciding to take the law into their own hands and teach the guy a lesson. But asking him for autographs?! Oh, did I mention that he plays for the Green Bay Packers? True: The suspect in question is Mark Chmura, star tight end for Wisconsin's most beloved sports franchise. Athletic, attractive, high-profile Mark Chmura -- the allegations were exactly the same, but somehow everything was different. This wasn't your average married suburban father of two accused of having his way with an underage girl too drunk to resist. This was a Green Bay Packer! Chmura was in jail for all of 12 hours, but by the time the captain on duty warned her troops to steer clear of him, it was already too late. Four officers had gotten Chmura's autograph -- one on a copy of his mug shot(!) -- and a fifth had printed copies of the mug shot with the signature. In no time at all, these folks -- three men, two women -- had gone from corrections officers to jock sniffers, and all it took was a whiff of the famous Green and Gold. The officers received various reprimands, and they had to hand over the autographs. (To be torn up and thrown away? Or hung in some Packer-bedecked rec room?) Meanwhile, Chmura's attorney says he's not surprised that his client agreed to the celebrity-smitten officers' autograph requests. "He has always been a very gentlemanly fella," the lawyer explains. There's a 17-year-old girl out there who might beg to differ. Posted 4/18/00. Find
all-star commentary right here twice every week!
|
  |
Rick Horowitz