Currently
  • Current Conditions
    84°
    Partly Cloudy
  • 2:00pm
    85°
  • 5:00pm
    85°
Full Forecast »
Severe Weather Alert
Affected Counties
E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters
Related To Story

Man Says He Wasn't In Bathroom For Sex, He Was Playing Game On PDA

POSTED: 12:02 pm EDT April 23, 2008
UPDATED: 6:07 pm EDT April 23, 2008

For the first time, a former Daytona Beach city commissioner talked about his involvement in an all-men sex sting in a Sears bathroom.


MUG SHOTS: 9 Suspects Arrested In Mall Sex Sting
PRESS CONFERENCE: Police Chief Discusses Details Of Sex Sting

Mike Shallow told a courtroom he wasn't trying to meet men for sex. Instead, he said, he was in the bathroom playing a video game and insists the police version of the incident is all wrong.

Shallow said he was in the bathroom with the door closed when he saw a foot aggressively come under the door. Then he could see people peering through the cracks at him. He said he was scared and ending up taking out his phone to play a game while he waited for the people to leave.

The bathroom inside the Daytona Beach Sears store was a place where men routinely engaged in sexual activity, police said, but in court Wednesday Shallow said he was just there to buy a TV. The one-time city leader was adamant he is innocent of any crime.

"And I told them that did not happen. And they said, 'Well, the two officers observed you masturbating,' and I said, 'That's completely untrue. No, two officers did not,'" Shallow said Wednesday.

Police were the ones who initially made contact with Shallow while he was inside a bathroom stall.

"A foot came underneath the partition, maybe this far on my side of the partition, with the foot pounding on the floor," Shallow said.

Then officers started peering through the cracks of the door. Shallow said they were soliciting him, but he never responded.

"No, I was creeped out. I just withdrew and I sat down on the toilet, kinda hunched down and waited for him to go away," Shallow said.

He said he was too startled to act and eventually found a way to pass the time until he felt safe to leave.

"I took out my PDA and started playing a game on my PDA," he said.

It was right after that Shallow said he was arrested. He talked Wednesday as part of a plan to show he had an expectation of privacy and that police didn't fully understand what they were doing. The judge is expected to take a few days before making a ruling on dismissing the case.



Market Place

Sponsor Links

Links We Like
Sponsored Content
Herpes simplex is more common than you’d think. Learn to recognize the 5 types. More Details

Having a hard time maintaining a beautiful garden? Check out these five plants that even you can’t mess up. More Details

Not everyone can excel at the art of the suck-up and that’s okay. But it’s important to connect with others in the workplace in order to further your career. Here are some simple ways to do just that. More Details

Stop wandering around car dealership lots and take advantage of this powerful search engine that can help find the perfect car for you in no time. More Details

Like online video? Then you'll love Now See This.

Strange News Photos

From brilliant to bizarre, this 99-photo slideshow captures a variety of strange news. New photos are added frequently, so prepare to be shocked and amused. Take A Look!

Caught In The Act

A Palm Bay homeowner couldn't get into his house because an 8-foot long snake was blocking the doorway Monday afternoon. More Details

Top 10 Video

TV Anchors Get Engaged On Air
Check out the best video clips on the Internet. New to the list: On a TV news set, love is on the air. More Details


Credit Center

The Average US Credit Score is 693. What's Yours? See it Instantly Online for $0. By Experian®
Experian

Eyewitness News 9 Desktop Alert

- Breaking News Alerts
- Severe Weather Alerts
Download the Eyewitness News 9 Desktop Alert - CLICK HERE - IT'S FREE

Back To Top