Mjcpr
3/2/2006, 10:13 AM
Sorry if this has already been posted......:eek:
By Nolan Clay and Randy Ellis
The Oklahoman
Police say recording was made about 14 months ago
STILLWATER - A security camera recorded coach Eddie Sutton with a bottle and urinating outside a middle school near his home about 14 months ago, police said.
Officers, doctors who helped Sutton won't be disciplined
No students were at Stillwater Middle School at the time because classes were out for Christmas break, police said.
Police Chief Norman McNickle confirmed he learned of the video recording after Sutton's injury accident Feb. 10. The police chief said he was told by police officer Guy Palladino, who is assigned to the middle school and monitors the security cameras from a school office.
The police chief said Palladino could not tell much about the bottle from the recording.
"It could have been ice tea. Who knows?" McNickle said.
The police chief said he never saw the recording.
The Oklahoma State University basketball coach was charged after the accident with aggravated driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. Sutton, 69, is on medical leave and recently had back surgery.
Sutton admitted in a news conference Feb. 15 he has "a problem with alcohol" and "succumbed to temptation and went and bought a bottle" before the accident. Another driver was hurt in the wreck.
Sutton has not admitted publicly to any other recent drinking.
No comment from coach
Sutton declined comment about the incident at the middle school. OSU officials said they did not know about it until informed recently by the police chief.
"We, like many people, just in the last few days have heard about this tape," spokesman Gary Shutt said. "The university, as far as I know, had no knowledge of it. We were not aware of it, and further, never saw it."
Shutt also said, "There's been no discussions that I'm aware of with anyone else about what might have happened in the past. And, as far as I know, there have been no discussions with coach Sutton. He's been recovering and had his surgery."
The police chief said Sutton could have been charged with outraging public decency only if someone was around and saw him urinating.
"You'd have to have a human to be able to say, 'I saw him doing this,' ... and be ready to testify to it," McNickle said.
The police chief said he recently confirmed that with "some prosecuting attorneys." He said he was told "the machine itself was not sufficient evidence."
The recording was given to Stillwater Public Schools Superintendent Walter Swanson, police said. The Oklahoman asked for a copy under the state Open Records Act. Swanson said the school system currently does not have it.
"Beyond that, I really do not have any comment," Swanson said. "I don't have it. If I have ... it, I'd have to make it available. But I don't."
Recording's fate not known
Swanson refused to say what happened to the video recording and whether he talked to Sutton about it.
A now-retired assistant schools superintendent, Deborah Tate, said she learned of the video recording from the schools' safety coordinator and "the superintendent directed me to have it brought to him ... which did occur."
"The people that I am aware of who saw the tape ... said that it was very poor resolution," she said. "I don't know if they destroyed it. I don't know what happened to it. ... I never saw it.
"It was just kind of a tumultuous time, if you will," she said. "There was some concern about, 'What's the deal?' "
Palladino last month showed reporters the available views from the middle school's security cameras. He said Sutton was recorded at a distance outside by a trash bin -- possibly at dusk -- at a time students were away. He said he did not make a police report and did not at the time tell the police chief.
"It's not a police issue. It's a school issue," Palladino said. "Only a few people knew about it."
He declined to discuss in detail what he saw on the recording. He explained he sometimes helps with security at basketball games.
Asked if he could tell what kind of a bottle Sutton had, Palladino said, "No. ... I showed you on the video how far away that camera is."
He did say he never saw Sutton drinking from the bottle.
Sutton has said he plans to seek treatment for his alcohol problem. He previously was treated at the Betty Ford Center in the 1980s.
newsok.com/article/177575...ports/main (http://newsok.com/article/1775753/?template=sports/main)
By Nolan Clay and Randy Ellis
The Oklahoman
Police say recording was made about 14 months ago
STILLWATER - A security camera recorded coach Eddie Sutton with a bottle and urinating outside a middle school near his home about 14 months ago, police said.
Officers, doctors who helped Sutton won't be disciplined
No students were at Stillwater Middle School at the time because classes were out for Christmas break, police said.
Police Chief Norman McNickle confirmed he learned of the video recording after Sutton's injury accident Feb. 10. The police chief said he was told by police officer Guy Palladino, who is assigned to the middle school and monitors the security cameras from a school office.
The police chief said Palladino could not tell much about the bottle from the recording.
"It could have been ice tea. Who knows?" McNickle said.
The police chief said he never saw the recording.
The Oklahoma State University basketball coach was charged after the accident with aggravated driving under the influence, a misdemeanor. Sutton, 69, is on medical leave and recently had back surgery.
Sutton admitted in a news conference Feb. 15 he has "a problem with alcohol" and "succumbed to temptation and went and bought a bottle" before the accident. Another driver was hurt in the wreck.
Sutton has not admitted publicly to any other recent drinking.
No comment from coach
Sutton declined comment about the incident at the middle school. OSU officials said they did not know about it until informed recently by the police chief.
"We, like many people, just in the last few days have heard about this tape," spokesman Gary Shutt said. "The university, as far as I know, had no knowledge of it. We were not aware of it, and further, never saw it."
Shutt also said, "There's been no discussions that I'm aware of with anyone else about what might have happened in the past. And, as far as I know, there have been no discussions with coach Sutton. He's been recovering and had his surgery."
The police chief said Sutton could have been charged with outraging public decency only if someone was around and saw him urinating.
"You'd have to have a human to be able to say, 'I saw him doing this,' ... and be ready to testify to it," McNickle said.
The police chief said he recently confirmed that with "some prosecuting attorneys." He said he was told "the machine itself was not sufficient evidence."
The recording was given to Stillwater Public Schools Superintendent Walter Swanson, police said. The Oklahoman asked for a copy under the state Open Records Act. Swanson said the school system currently does not have it.
"Beyond that, I really do not have any comment," Swanson said. "I don't have it. If I have ... it, I'd have to make it available. But I don't."
Recording's fate not known
Swanson refused to say what happened to the video recording and whether he talked to Sutton about it.
A now-retired assistant schools superintendent, Deborah Tate, said she learned of the video recording from the schools' safety coordinator and "the superintendent directed me to have it brought to him ... which did occur."
"The people that I am aware of who saw the tape ... said that it was very poor resolution," she said. "I don't know if they destroyed it. I don't know what happened to it. ... I never saw it.
"It was just kind of a tumultuous time, if you will," she said. "There was some concern about, 'What's the deal?' "
Palladino last month showed reporters the available views from the middle school's security cameras. He said Sutton was recorded at a distance outside by a trash bin -- possibly at dusk -- at a time students were away. He said he did not make a police report and did not at the time tell the police chief.
"It's not a police issue. It's a school issue," Palladino said. "Only a few people knew about it."
He declined to discuss in detail what he saw on the recording. He explained he sometimes helps with security at basketball games.
Asked if he could tell what kind of a bottle Sutton had, Palladino said, "No. ... I showed you on the video how far away that camera is."
He did say he never saw Sutton drinking from the bottle.
Sutton has said he plans to seek treatment for his alcohol problem. He previously was treated at the Betty Ford Center in the 1980s.
newsok.com/article/177575...ports/main (http://newsok.com/article/1775753/?template=sports/main)