Rodman Won’t Be Off to Court

After more than 40 house calls from police and $2,200 in fines for disturbing the peace in Newport Beach, ex-Laker Dennis Rodman has been decreed safe, for now, from prosecution.

After reviewing reports of 36 incidents over the last year, the Orange County district attorney’s office announced Wednesday that there’s not enough evidence to convict Rodman of disturbing the peace in his beachfront neighborhood.

Though some parties have certainly gotten wild at “Club 4809,” the locals’ term for Rodman’s house, prosecutors said witnesses to those events were either not cooperative or wanted to remain anonymous. Police said some witnesses fear retribution from Rodman, whose local entourage, police said, includes ex-convicts serving as bodyguards and doormen.

However, police say they’re going to continue to work with prosecutors and Rodman’s neighborhood until they find a way to persuade Rodman and company to calm down. Sgt. Mike McDermott said fines for disturbing the peace are shrugged off by the wealthy former sports star.

“He basically told us that the fines are nothing,” McDermott said.

The parties occur monthly, McDermott said, sparking calls from neighbors upset at music blaring from 3-foot-high speakers at 3 a.m.

McDermott said there’s a neon sign on the side of Rodman’s house that reads “open” when a party’s going on, attracting loud crowds.

“He’s aggressively advertising,” said one neighbor who wished to remain anonymous. “He’s definitely bad for the community; there’s no question about it.”

Neither Rodman nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

Other neighbors, however, said Rodman is not a nuisance and is just being targeted because of his notoriety.

“I like the way he is with the kids. He’s good to his neighbors,” said Rosalie McElroy, 77, who lives across the street. “To be honest, I don’t care if he does have earrings or a tattoo, I think he’s a very nice person.

“They just arrest him for who he is and what he looks like. [Neighbors] don’t call the police about everybody who has a party.”

Rodman moved to the neighborhood in July 1998, McDermott said. Since then, he said, police have been called to the property more than 40 times. Not all of them were disturbing-the-peace complaints, he said. Many residents complain of Rodman’s drunken guests fighting outside or parking their cars behind homeowner’s garages.

However, he said, Rodman cannot be prosecuted for the behavior of his guests.

Rodman has been jailed twice recently in the Orange County area, once in August 1998 on public drunkenness charges, which were later dropped. In December 1998, he was cited for drunk driving and released after he posted a $2,500 bond.

Rodman told Newport Beach officers that he decided to take his party elsewhere for the Fourth of July weekend because he was under such scrutiny in Newport Beach. McDermott said he went to Los Angeles instead.

McDermott said Rodman’s case has made local peace disturbance history.

“He holds the all-time record for police calls,” McDermott said.

Just hours after Rodman was cited recently for driving with an expired license, McDermott said, everyone from Entertainment Tonight reporters to Japanese wire service writers were calling for the scoop.

The calls take away valuable staffing hours, McDermott said.

“Our goal is to stop getting complaints down there,” he said.

McDermott said he was hoping that prosecuting Rodman would help abate the neighbors’ complaints.

“We’re obviously disappointed,” he said about the charges not being filed.