By TER Staff
What comes to mind when you think of Tampa Bay, Florida? sun, beaches, boating, maybe Sea World or the NFL Buccaneers?
Well think again.
Tampa is now home to TER's 'Media Mugs' Gone Wild!
First up, a fresh new face on the Tampa media arrest blotter.
Jason Lanning, is a TV reporter with Tampa's Bay News 9. Lanning, according to police and media reports, smashed his car into the back of a pick-up truck and took out a few unsuspecting stops signs before coming to a stop last Wednesday night. Police say he tried to flee the scene. His blood-alcohol level registered below legal limits, according to authorities, but he was still arrested and charged with DUI.
Next up, we jump back a little to May 2008.
Robert Linger was the General Manager of WTVT-TV, the Fox affiliate in town. That was before he got arrested with five other men for exposing his 'manhood' and masturbating in public at a Tampa adult video store called 'Fantasyland'. It all went down in front of two undercover Tampa police officers. The upside to this story, at least Linger didn't visit the other 'Fantasyland' at Disney World in nearby Orlando.
Finally -- we have William (aka Bill) Carey and a case from late 2007. Carey was the former General Manager of ABC affiliate WFTS-TV Channel 28. Carey became involved in a bit of a legal mess an incident on a Tampa highway.
"The victim was driving her Mercedes on Memorial Highway when her vehicle was rear ended by the suspect's 2006 Ford Explorer. The victim followed the suspect for approximately one-mile honking her horn until the suspect pulled over. The suspect approached the victim's car and handed her his driver's license through her car window. The victim was holding the suspect's license and said she was going to call the police. He became agitated, reached through the window and tried to grab the driver's license. A struggle ensued over the license and when the suspect couldn't get his license from the victim, he grabbed her arms and tried to pull her through the window. Because she was wearing her seatbelt, he was unable to pull her out of the car. He opened the car door, grabbed her shirt and once again attempted to pull her out of the car. She unbuckled the seatbelt, exited the car and started running down Memorial Highway. The suspect was chasing after her. After a short distance, the suspect returned the victim's car, rummaging through her vehicle. The victim's husband arrived on scene and the suspect fled in his vehicle."
Carey came to Tampa via Detroit station WXYZ-TV, where he was News Director. After Tampa, Carey moved on to a new ABC station in Moline IL. Not as sunny as Tampa for sure, but probably nicer than Detroit we surmise.
(Full Disclosure Alert!) TER's own Eric Longabardi once worked with Carey and investigative reporter Steve Wilson in Detroit for a month nearly a decade ago. Longabardi couldn't squeeze enough money out of ND Carey to justify living in Detroit. (No offense Detroit, but Longabardi is a Californian) He also couldn't bear the cold weather in 'The Motor City', so he fled back to his beloved sunny Southern California. Carey was a nice enough guy and a solid News Director, according to Longabardi. As for Wilson, he's a 'legend', that is all we will can say about him.
So let's recap and wrap it all up:
We have a Tampa TV reporter with a DUI, a GM with a need to show his 'willy' in public and another GM who had a very bad night on the road, with a little bit of road rage thrown in.
If you needed any more proof that there may be something in the water down in Tampa -- don't forget who launched TER's "Media Mugs" back in March 2009:
Russell Rhodes yep -- you guessed it, he hails from Tampa too!
You may be asking -- is there something about Tampa that is driving media types into legal run-ins with the law? Who knows, we doubt it, but we'll stay on the story!
As for the final disposition of all the cases we mentioned, we don't know, and to be honest, we really don't want to know. Tampa, please give it a rest! The Enterprise Report has other cities to cover for 'Media Mugs'.
