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Polk Deputies: Father, Son Feud Fouls Basketball Game

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By BILLY TOWNSEND, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 14, 2008

LAKELAND - A son shoved his father and then both scrapped with sheriff's deputies Tuesday night, disrupting the end of a hard-fought girls basketball playoff game, the Polk County Sheriff's Office reported.

Arthur Salary Jr., 30, and Arthur Salary Sr., 68, a former Polk deputy, were arrested and accused of violently resisting sheriff's deputies, according to arrest affidavits.

Here's the account provided by affidavits from two sheriff's deputies:

The trouble started near the end of the Lake Gibson-Winter Haven high school girls basketball playoff game at Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland. Sheriff's deputies said they saw the elder Salary "yelling and cursing loudly" in the stands. His son, who was sitting in front of Salary, stood and shoved his father, who fell backward into the crowd.

As Deputy Tracy Smith pulled the younger Salary from the crowd, his father, said to be 6-foot-4 with a large build, began "to push through the stands" in the direction of Smith.

Deputy Paul Buoniconti intercepted the elder Salary, who "grabbed me around the torso, picked me up and slammed me and himself to the ground," according to Buoniconti's affidavit.

School officials and bystanders helped Buoniconti secure the elder Salary and lead him outside.

The younger Salary attempted to jerk away from Smith and elbowed him as he was escorted out of the gym.

The elder Salary was a Polk sheriff's deputy, leaving the agency in 1973. Because of that, his address was not provided pursuant to state law.

Arthur Salary Jr. lives in Winter Haven. The arrest affidavit lists him as a food services manager at the Orange County Youth Academy.

Neither man could be reached for comment Wednesday.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Carrie Rodgers said witnesses heard the elder Salary complaining loudly about the game's referees and that his son repeatedly told him to quiet down.

"Eventually, it escalated into the physical violence," Rodgers said.

Salary Sr. was released after posting $2,250 bond. Salary Jr. remains in the Polk County Jail with no bail, pending a first court appearance, because he was charged with domestic violence in pushing his father.

Editor's note: Earlier versions of this story gave an incorrect location for the basketball game.

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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