HankL
06-30-2005, 06:52 AM
Man who stole Rod Stewart's sports car gets 11 years in plea deal
By John Coté
Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 30 2005
Rod Stewart was not amused with Donald Michael Smith.
Neither was Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jack Cook when he gave Smith 11 years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges that included stealing the singer's yellow Dodge Viper. Smith, 23, also pleaded to burglary and attempted sexual battery counts in a separate case in which he choked his neighbor.
The assault came as Smith's drug use was "out of control," Taylor said, and was the culmination of erratic behavior that included stealing Stewart's car about five months earlier when Smith worked as a landscaper at the entertainer's Palm Beach home.
Smith was fired from the job the morning of July 2, 2004, for "loafing," his boss told police. Smith then drove off in Stewart's Dodge Viper, which had the keys in it, according to the police report.
The sports car was found several hours later abandoned near a canal off Kirk Road west of Lake Worth. It had more than $15,000 worth of damage to it, Shull said. The report indicates body damage to the passenger side and front bumper. Smith was ordered to pay for the damage.
Smith had been using cocaine and Xanax for two days, Taylor said.
"He does not remember taking the car," Taylor said. "Mr. Smith, in both of his cases, it's clear he's in a downward spiral because of his drug use."
Stewart was not in court Wednesday. In a terse statement to police after the car was taken, he wrote: "[Someone] stole my Viper. I'm not amused."
By John Coté
Ft Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 30 2005
Rod Stewart was not amused with Donald Michael Smith.
Neither was Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jack Cook when he gave Smith 11 years in prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges that included stealing the singer's yellow Dodge Viper. Smith, 23, also pleaded to burglary and attempted sexual battery counts in a separate case in which he choked his neighbor.
The assault came as Smith's drug use was "out of control," Taylor said, and was the culmination of erratic behavior that included stealing Stewart's car about five months earlier when Smith worked as a landscaper at the entertainer's Palm Beach home.
Smith was fired from the job the morning of July 2, 2004, for "loafing," his boss told police. Smith then drove off in Stewart's Dodge Viper, which had the keys in it, according to the police report.
The sports car was found several hours later abandoned near a canal off Kirk Road west of Lake Worth. It had more than $15,000 worth of damage to it, Shull said. The report indicates body damage to the passenger side and front bumper. Smith was ordered to pay for the damage.
Smith had been using cocaine and Xanax for two days, Taylor said.
"He does not remember taking the car," Taylor said. "Mr. Smith, in both of his cases, it's clear he's in a downward spiral because of his drug use."
Stewart was not in court Wednesday. In a terse statement to police after the car was taken, he wrote: "[Someone] stole my Viper. I'm not amused."