Capriati Arrested, Faces Drug Charge

Tennis star Jennifer Capriati was arrested Monday on a marijuana possession charge after police came to her hotel room in Coral Gables, Fla., to look for a runaway.

Police said they found Capriati, 18, alone. During a search, they uncovered an undetermined amount of marijuana. When the female runaway and a Key Biscayne man, 19, arrived at the room, after pulling up in Capriati’s car, they also were arrested on drug charges.

The 17-year-old, not identified by authorities because of her age, was charged with possession of two packets of heroin.

The man, Tom Wineland, was suspected of possessing crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia and was being held on $6,000 bond at the Dade County Jail, authorities said.

Capriati was charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor, and released.

Her agent, Linda Dozoretz of International Management Group, had no immediate comment.

Capriati has not played since losing in the first round of the U.S. Open last August. She left the tour because of an injured elbow. In January, she said she wouldn’t return until June.

Capriati had been cited by Tampa police in December for misdemeanor shoplifting. Her agent said she inadvertently wandered off from a shopping mall booth with a $15 ring.

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Tracy Austin, back on the tour at 31, beat Geraldine Dondit of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-0, in the first round of the Eurocard Open in Lucerne, Switzerland. . . . Sweden rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic in the first round of the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf, Germany, overcoming Stefan Edberg’s 6-1, 6-4 loss to Petr Korda. . . . Freshman Claire Turchi of Pomona-Pitzer beat Nao Kinoshita of Rhodes, 6-2, 6-3, to win the NCAA Division III women’s singles tennis title at Kalamazoo, Mich. Shelly Keeler of Pomona-Pitzer won the title in 1992.

Miscellany

Paul Azinger said he has beaten back the cancer that struck him last winter and vowed to defend his PGA Championship title.

Two weeks ago, Azinger completed the last of six chemotherapy sessions at a Los Angeles hospital. Tests revealed there is no trace of cancer in this right shoulder blade, although he still will go through five weeks of radiation therapy beginning next week.

Kicker Scott Bentley, who helped Florida State win the national football championship last season, pleaded no contest to illegally recording a sexual encounter with a date. He said he made the audio tape to protect himself against potential charges of date rape. Bentley was fined $500 and sentenced to 40 hours on a road crew.

Michel D’Hooghe, the head of FIFA’s medical committee, says he will propose to have starting times of 28 midday World Cup games changed because of fears of midday heat and humidity. But Alan Rothenberg, chairman of World Cup ‘94, said a change is impossible.

Drivers, engineers and team officials involved in Formula One racing have agreed to accept safety changes decreed by the sports’s governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

Roland Street, 54, of Hailey, Ida., the father of Olympic downhill silver medalist Picabo Street, pleaded guilty to beating his wife, Dee, 47, in a domestic dispute May 9. . . . The Big Eight Conference will continue to be called that through the 1996 football season, when it will become the Big 12. . . . Junior guard Lawrence Moten will forgo the NBA draft this year and remain at Syracuse.