Top > Sport > 2006 > October > 2006-10-26

Shaq joins police in raid on wrong house

Miami Heat center, Shaquille O`Neil has taken the off-season to pursue his interest in law enforcement. He is reserve deputy at the sheriff`s office in Bedford County, Virginia. O`Neal was part of a botched raid last month, in which an Internet crime police unit was sent out to search the house of an alleged child pornography offender. O`Neal participated in the raid on the suspect house, seizing computers, cameras and other electronic devices.

Although O`Neil denies being involved, the County Sheriff Lt. Michael Harmony confirmed that O`Neal was there. The twist enters when the raid appears to have been on the wrong house, with a farmer, A.J. Nuckols, his wife and children wrongfully troubled. This resulted from a mistaken IP address, which led O`Neil and the police to the wrong house.

O`Neal, when asked about the incident, only smiled and said "it wasn`t me." At a later occasion, O`Neal made some lighthearted reference to "knocking down the wrong door." O`Neil is now back with his team, playing an exhibition game in Orlando and preparing for the opening of the NBA season later this month.