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11 year prison sentence for stealing Rod Stewart\'s Yellow Viper
Man who stole Rod Stewart's sports car gets 11 years in plea deal
By John Coté
Staff Writer
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 ****** battery counts in a separate case in which he choked his neighbor, held her at knifepoint and said he "wanted to get naked with her."
Smith also was ordered to complete a drug treatment program after his release.
Before both incidents, he had been awake for days binging on ******* and the anti-anxiety medicine Xanax, public defender Christopher Taylor said. Smith deserved leniency because he confessed in both cases, didn't go through with the ****** assault and had shown remorse, Taylor added.
Smith had faced up to life in prison.
"I don't think any prison sentence less than 11 years would be appropriate," Cook said. "Your being on drugs is no excuse to impose that type of terror on [your neighbor] and her child."
Smith came to his Greenacres neighbor's door in the early hours of Nov. 24, 2004, and asked to use the phone, saying there was an emergency, prosecutor Darren Shull said. Inside the home, Smith held a knife to the woman's neck as her young daughter looked on and threatened to kill the woman, Shull said.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not identifying the woman or her daughter because of the nature of the charges.
"He scared me," the girl, who was 4 at the time of the attack, told the judge. "He scared my mommy a lot."
The woman said Smith had shattered her sense of security and exposed her daughter to something she "would never want her to see on TV, let alone happen to her in her own home."
"He took my daughter out of my arms," the woman said. "I watched my 4-year-old daughter scream, `He's going to kill my mommy. He's going to kill my mommy.' ... My daughter screamed in such a way I never heard before."
Smith had the young girl placed in a bathroom and then told the mother he "wanted to get naked with her," Shull said. The woman convinced him not to go through with the ****, telling Smith he had a girlfriend who loved him and he was acting crazy.
"Those words made him stop," the woman said.
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 ******* 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."
John Coté can be reached at [email protected] or 561-832-6550.
Man who stole Rod Stewart's sports car gets 11 years in plea deal
By John Coté
Staff Writer
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 ****** battery counts in a separate case in which he choked his neighbor, held her at knifepoint and said he "wanted to get naked with her."
Smith also was ordered to complete a drug treatment program after his release.
Before both incidents, he had been awake for days binging on ******* and the anti-anxiety medicine Xanax, public defender Christopher Taylor said. Smith deserved leniency because he confessed in both cases, didn't go through with the ****** assault and had shown remorse, Taylor added.
Smith had faced up to life in prison.
"I don't think any prison sentence less than 11 years would be appropriate," Cook said. "Your being on drugs is no excuse to impose that type of terror on [your neighbor] and her child."
Smith came to his Greenacres neighbor's door in the early hours of Nov. 24, 2004, and asked to use the phone, saying there was an emergency, prosecutor Darren Shull said. Inside the home, Smith held a knife to the woman's neck as her young daughter looked on and threatened to kill the woman, Shull said.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel is not identifying the woman or her daughter because of the nature of the charges.
"He scared me," the girl, who was 4 at the time of the attack, told the judge. "He scared my mommy a lot."
The woman said Smith had shattered her sense of security and exposed her daughter to something she "would never want her to see on TV, let alone happen to her in her own home."
"He took my daughter out of my arms," the woman said. "I watched my 4-year-old daughter scream, `He's going to kill my mommy. He's going to kill my mommy.' ... My daughter screamed in such a way I never heard before."
Smith had the young girl placed in a bathroom and then told the mother he "wanted to get naked with her," Shull said. The woman convinced him not to go through with the ****, telling Smith he had a girlfriend who loved him and he was acting crazy.
"Those words made him stop," the woman said.
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 ******* 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."
John Coté can be reached at [email protected] or 561-832-6550.
