Lawrence Taylor Charged with Cocaine Possession

Lawrence Taylor’s battles on the football field may be over, but his ones with the law continue.

Taylor was charged Monday with possession of crack cocaine after making a purchase from an undercover police officer at St. Pete Beach, Fla.

Members of the St. Pete Beach Special Response Team entered his room at the Sandpiper Resort hotel shortly after 2 a.m. and arrested the former NFL star and Victoria Corey, 41, who was identified as a secretary employed by L.T. Enterprises.

Police said Taylor, 39, purchased $50 worth of crack cocaine from the undercover officer. Officers found drug paraphernalia in his room and Taylor admitted he knew of its presence, an arrest report said.

Taylor said he was set up by an officer who badgered him all day until he finally bought the drugs.

“Any time a law enforcement agency can solicit you all day and you tell them no and then they have the nerve to come to my room at 2 a.m. and try to sell me drugs, that’s bull,” Taylor said as he left the Pinellas County Jail after posting $15,500 bond.

Taylor, who helped the New York Giants win two Super Bowl titles during his 13-year NFL career that ended in 1993, has battled drugs for more than a decade. In 1994, he was arrested on similar charges in South Carolina.

Taylor also underwent rehabilitation for a cocaine problem in 1986 and was suspended by the NFL two years later for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. In March 1989, Taylor failed a Breathalyzer test after he was found sleeping behind the wheel of his Jeep on a New Jersey highway at 3:30 a.m. No drugs were found in a urine test.

Last May, he was arrested in a roundup of deadbeat parents. He pleaded guilty last year to filing a false 1990 federal income tax return.

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Former New York Jets star Mark Gastineau surrendered to face charges of violating a court order to stay away from a woman he is accused of hitting.

Gastineau turned himself in at the 19th Precinct at New York and was charged with criminal contempt for violating an order of protection, police spokesman Kevin Tyrrell said.

The former Jet defensive lineman was to be arraigned later Monday night, said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

Gastineau, 41, was arrested Sept. 2 on charges of assaulting Patricia Schorr in her apartment.

A court complaint accused him of slapping her face, throwing her against a wall and choking her while threatening to kill her.

Tennis

Russian junior Marat Safin upset top-seeded Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2, in the first round of the $1-million Czech Indoor tournament at Ostrava. Korda lost his third consecutive first-round ATP match and has little chance to qualify for the ATP World Championship at Hanover, Germany. . . . Albert Costa of Spain and Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, two seeded players, were upset in the first round of the Lyon Grand Prix tournament at Lyon, France.

Golf

The PGA of America announced that the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., will be venue for the 35th Ryder Cup in 2003, while the 37th edition will be played at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville in 2007. Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill., will be the site of the 39th Ryder Cup in 2011.

The organization also named the sites for three future PGA Championships.

Valhalla was named as venue for the year’s final major in 2004. Medinah will be the site for he event in 2006, while Oakland Hills will pay host to the 2008 edition.

Names in the News

The Clippers interviewed Chris Ford, who was fired by the Milwaukee Bucks in August, for their vacant coaching position on Monday. Ford met with Elgin Baylor, the Clippers’ vice president of basketball operations, but no offer was made, according to sources. The Clippers are expected to also interview former Laker Eddie Jordan, fired as coach of the Sacramento Kings in August, and Jim Brewer, an assistant with the Clippers last season, later this week. The Clippers fired Bill Fitch in June and have been deliberate in finding a replacement because of the NBA lockout.

A Cal State Bakersfield basketball recruit was acquitted of rape and sexual assault charges. Tyron Allan Evans, 22, had been accused of attacking a 21-year-old woman in her dormitory room June 8. Evans said he will not be eligible to play for the Roadrunners until September 1999, but plans to attend school this semester. . . . Brian Babcock, who bounced back to win the national all-around title in gymnastics a year after just missing a spot on the 1984 Olympic team, died at his Houston home of complications after a bone marrow transplant in August. He was 38. . . . Two-time WNBA MVP Cynthia Cooper and silver medal-winning figure skater Michelle Kwan were honored as Sportswomen of the Year by the Women’s Sports Foundation at New York. . . . Valerie Still of the ABL’s Columbus Quest underwent reconstructive surgery on her right knee and faces four or five months of rehabilitation.