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WTVT's Rhodes Apologizes On Air Following January Arrest
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Published: February 18, 2009
TAMPA - Russell Rhodes, a morning anchor for WTVT, Channel 13, issued an apology today during his return to the airwaves.
Rhodes was arrested in January and charged with obstructing or opposing an officer without violence after trying to run from an off-duty deputy in the Channelside Parking Garage, Hillsborough County deputies say.
An off-duty deputy at the parking garage, 810 Channelside Drive, saw Rhodes in his 2006 BMW 325i driving recklessly, according to Hillsborough County sheriff's spokesman J. D. Callaway.
Rhodes "was attempting to reverse his vehicle into other traffic after passing the exit token machine," according to a criminal report affidavit.
The deputy then stopped the car. Rhodes got out, and his pants and belt were undone, Callaway said.
"Rhodes appeared to be intoxicated when he got out of the vehicle," Callaway said last month. "Twice, Rhodes walked away from the deputy after being ordered not to leave. The third time he tried to run out of the garage. The deputy escorted Rhodes back to the patrol car and requested Rhodes give him the key to the vehicle, which Rhodes had in his right hand."
Rhodes refused to surrender the key and began to jerk his hand away from the deputy in an attempt to prevent him from grabbing the key, "requiring the deputy to take Rhodes to the ground to be handcuffed," Callaway said.
After being handcuffed, Rhodes apologized, according to the affidavit.
Rhodes told the deputy he panicked "because he works for Fox 13 news," according to the affidavit.
He was taken by ambulance to Tampa General Hospital's emergency room to be treated for a laceration to his lip and a contusion to his left cheek, Callaway said.
A status conference in Rhodes' criminal case scheduled for today was continued at the request of his attorney, Jeffrey Brown. A new date was not set.
WTVT is owned by the Fox Broadcasting Corp., a division of News Corp.
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