February 11, 2009 5:25 PM
- Text
Shaq Scores Assist With Miami Police
(CBS/AP)
Shaquille O'Neal put his police skills to use early Sunday.
O'Neal, the Miami Heat's All-Star center and a reserve officer with the Miami Beach Police Department, followed a driver who allegedly crashed into his Cadillac Escalade and tried to flee the scene, the team said.
O'Neal and bodyguard Jerome Crawford followed the driver for about five minutes. When the driver, identified by The Miami Herald as 18-year-old Emmanuel Cibrian of Tampa, stopped near a gas station, O'Neal approached the car and summoned a nearby police officer.
Police did not release an incident report Sunday night. Miami-Dade Corrections officials said they had no record of anyone by Cibrian's name being booked on a criminal charge, and it was unclear if he was ticketed for any moving violations.
"He opened the door, I don't think he saw us and I hit him, I hit the door," Cibrian said of O'Neal, CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami reported.
Cibrian, along with two passengers, told police they were driving home from a nightclub when the accident with O'Neal occurred. The men said they did not stop because O'Neal immediately began following them and they were scared — so scared that even when another car struck them as they fled the crash, they still did not stop because they wanted to elude O'Neal, WFOR reported.
The incident happened around 4 a.m., shortly after the Heat got home from a Saturday game in Chicago. O'Neal was helping Crawford, a team security official, unload luggage outside Crawford's home in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood when the accident occurred.
O'Neal, through the team, said Sunday night that he followed proper police protocol during the chase, including pursuing at a safe distance and speed. He contacted police officers along the way, he said.
O'Neal was sworn in as a reserve officer in 2005. He has long said he intends to pursue a career in law enforcement when he retires from basketball.
O'Neal, the Miami Heat's All-Star center and a reserve officer with the Miami Beach Police Department, followed a driver who allegedly crashed into his Cadillac Escalade and tried to flee the scene, the team said.
O'Neal and bodyguard Jerome Crawford followed the driver for about five minutes. When the driver, identified by The Miami Herald as 18-year-old Emmanuel Cibrian of Tampa, stopped near a gas station, O'Neal approached the car and summoned a nearby police officer.
Police did not release an incident report Sunday night. Miami-Dade Corrections officials said they had no record of anyone by Cibrian's name being booked on a criminal charge, and it was unclear if he was ticketed for any moving violations.
"He opened the door, I don't think he saw us and I hit him, I hit the door," Cibrian said of O'Neal, CBS station WFOR-TV in Miami reported.
Cibrian, along with two passengers, told police they were driving home from a nightclub when the accident with O'Neal occurred. The men said they did not stop because O'Neal immediately began following them and they were scared — so scared that even when another car struck them as they fled the crash, they still did not stop because they wanted to elude O'Neal, WFOR reported.
The incident happened around 4 a.m., shortly after the Heat got home from a Saturday game in Chicago. O'Neal was helping Crawford, a team security official, unload luggage outside Crawford's home in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood when the accident occurred.
O'Neal, through the team, said Sunday night that he followed proper police protocol during the chase, including pursuing at a safe distance and speed. He contacted police officers along the way, he said.
O'Neal was sworn in as a reserve officer in 2005. He has long said he intends to pursue a career in law enforcement when he retires from basketball.
Popular Now in Sports
- Watch: Will Ferrell does Bulls-Hornets intros
- Is Eli Manning a Hall of Famer?
- Forbes list: America's most disliked athletes
- Watch: 7-foot-5 teen basketball player dominates
- Jeremy Lin unlikely star for Knicks
- Ricky Williams: Parcells convinced me to retire
- Ex-MLB pitcher: I did cocaine before most games
- NFL: The Patriots Cheated
- Jeremy Lin's coach at Harvard: "He's fearless"
- Dwayne Wade's Wife, Kids Suing His Girlfriend
- Porn star: MLB agent used me to recruit players
- Birdman: I'm betting $5 million on Super Bowl
- Reggie Bush "stinks," teammate says
- Luol Deng picked as NBA All-Star
- "Halftime in America"
- JaMarcus Russell: I'm not lazy, fat or a junkie
- NFL's Top 100 Players of All-Time: Debate
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Vrbata, Smith lead Coyotes past Stars 4-1
- Vrbata, Smith lead Coyotes past Stars 4-1
- Canucks beat Predators 4-3 in SO
- Canucks beat Predators 4-3 in SO
on Facebook
- Adele sings a cappella for Anderson Cooper
- Josh Powell had "incestuous" images on his home computer, authorities say
on CBS News
