Shaq Dials 911 for Man Outside Home Claiming to Need Help

By Alva James-Johnson, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Jun. 19–Heat center Shaquille O’Neal received an unexpected visitor Sunday morning, hours before the big game: a robbery victim.

The man said he was walking on Washington Avenue in Miami Beach at about 3 a.m. when three men in a vehicle abducted him, according to Miami Police spokeswoman Arley Flaherty.

He said one of the males claimed to have a taser. The men took him to Star Island, where he was robbed of cell phone, shoes, cash, jewelry and credit cards.

The men dropped the man in front of O’Neal’s house at about 6:30 a.m., according to Flaherty. Police were called to the scene, and the man was taken to Mt. Sinai Medical Center.

When asked about the incident in a news conference after the game, O’Neal said the man was beat up in front of his home. He said he assisted the man and called an ambulance.

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Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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