Canzano: Drunken-driving, mistaken-identity case illustrates Brandon Roy's rising fam

By John Canzano, The Oregonian
May 18, 2010, 7:22PM
The guy was home free, cruising near the intersection of La Cienega and Pacific Concourse Drive in Los Angeles early Saturday. That is, until the tires of his automobile screeched, hit the curb and an apartment building appeared in front of his veering silver sports car.

The vehicle crashed into a water-pipe system on one end of the building. Someone called 9-1-1. Three California Highway Patrol cruisers and a fire truck showed up. This was followed by a failed breathalyzer test, handcuffs and a ride downtown.

All that, and a 20-something female passenger in the vehicle who gathered her things and explained to a witness as the driver was being arrested: "He's Brandon Roy -- No. 7. Look him up, he's famous."

Screeeeeeeeech, you're thinking.

Except Roy told The Oregonian later Saturday he was in Washington with his family and hasn't been to Southern California since the Trail Blazers played the Lakers in April. He offered photographs as proof. And team officials spent the weekend fielding questions from Portland-area television and radio reporters who were being disseminated an eyewitness account that had remarkable detail despite the crime not fitting the what we know to be the character of the man in question.

The key witness woke up at 5 a.m. Saturday when he heard the car crash. He watched from his apartment window as the suspect was asked to perform sobriety tests. Then, Juan Aviles said he walked outside, talked with the female passenger, and observed the scene. He even went back the next morning, and reported in a subsequent e-mail that he saw the tire treads on the pavement.

Wrote Aviles in an e-mail of the arrested individual: "I never saw his face but he appeared to be a young man, tall, wearing basketball shorts and tennis shoes."

Could have been Roy, sure. Or it could have been almost anyone. But it was the woman's account, and her claims that it was the NBA All-Star being put in the back of the cruiser that registered with everyone. If it was Roy, there would be questions to answer.

Enter, James Spiller, 25. He lives at the apartment complex where the vehicle crashed. And he was heading home with a female companion who said after the accident that she was with Roy.

Spiller has been cited and released by police, and an officer told The Oregonian on Tuesday that Spiller never misrepresented himself when questioned by authorities. He wasn't booked, so there's no booking photograph on record with the highway patrol, country sheriff's department or Los Angeles Police Department.

I only bring all that up because I've covered stories of famous athletes and misuse of their identities before. The truth often comes out once law enforcement shows up. I wrote about Larry Laverne Jacobsen, an ex-convict living in suburban Portland, who claimed he was a former NFL player and Outland Trophy winner.

Turned out he wasn't.

Jacobsen owned a bankrupt sign company and a series of failed restaurants and was encouraging investments in his endeavors using his NFL ties.

A few years ago I did research for a column about an individual in the area who claimed he was the minor-league baseball playing brother of former Red Sox star Dwight Evans. The guy signed autographs, got visited on a LAX-PDX flight once at his seat by impressed pilots who wanted to meet him. The rouse ended when I questioned the authenticity of the claims and the individual told me to call comedian and actor Bernie Mac and ask, because he'd organized a benefit for Mac's cancer-stricken niece.

I called Mac, who said he'd never heard of the guy. His niece was fine, and before hanging up, Mac asked, "What kind of sicko is this guy!?!?"

So yeah. What's really going on here?

The lesson here isn't one of responsibility, really. None of the media in Portland ran prematurely with the story. And to Aviles credit, he prefaced one of his e-mails with, "Don't go with this until you confirm."

It's not a study of the dangers of social networking, either. Because I didn't see or hear about a single case of anyone erroneously accusing Roy of a crime or even supposing it was true.

What it is is a good time to think about the currency Roy's celebrity carries.

He's become a full-fledged star. And with that comes people the potential for people -- in the blink of an eye -- to seize the opportunity and the potential to trade on that notion.

Spiller didn't return a telephone message seeking comment. There's a reason Roy's name came up. Either someone was trying to get out of an arrest or the con was on the female friend.

Whatever the case, Roy didn't do a thing wrong.

He didn't crash his sports car. He wasn't even in Los Angeles. Which is only to say, Roy is nothing more than an innocent bystander. And that news was greeted by reporters in Portland who had a hard time imagining Roy in handcuffs with, "Didn't think so."

 

Re: Canzano: Drunken-driving, mistaken-identity case illustrates Brandon Roy's rising

It is amazing this didn't hit the rumor mill.