Tuesday, 19 February 2008

2006_05_07_archive



May 7th, 2003

David Horton Arrested

That's not a player, so don't bother trying to discover his stats. His

arrest is nonetheless related to baseball. Most ballparks these days

have at least one, sometimes more, between inning promotions where

they scan the crowd and show fans. At Yankee games, at least last

season, it was the "Delta Dental Smile Cam." In Cincinnati in 2003,

they had the "Kiss Cam" where the camera focuses on fans, to encourage

them to kiss. I've seen it at other events and while silly, it can be

fun.

It was not fun, however, for Horton. Horton had served two and a half

years of a four-year sentence for stabbing two men and was released on

parole. As is standard, a condition of said parole was that Horton had

to stay out of trouble. Horton failed to do this, however, being

arrested for possessing more than five-hundred grams of cocaine,

including nearly fifty he sold to an undercover officer. He was

charged and released on bail. After that however, Horton dropped off

the map, failing to show up for later court appearances or check in

with his parole officer.

Despite this, Horton was not exactly cause for launching a man hunt,

so chances are if he had laid low--maybe moved to another city--he

could've ducked the charges. Laying low was apparently not Horton

strong suit however, as he not only decided to attend the Reds' game

at the Great American Ballpark with his girlfriend, but further

allowed himself to be on the Kiss Cam!

When someone is so foolish, the universe often seems to punish them.

In this case, that punishment came in the form of Horton's parole

officer, who was sitting in the stands. Noticing the fugitive on the

big screen, the officer rounded up a couple of Cincinnati's finest,

who went to the section and arrested him. After a few months of

pre-trial maneuverings and such, Horton (wisely) struck a plea and was

sentenced to four and a half years in prison for the combination of

his parole violations and drug charges. Assuming he's not been


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