A Ramona, Calif. man who was handed a $1,000 ticket stub that gave the late
rapper Tupac Shakur admission to the Mike Tyson/Bruce Seldon championship fight
is trying to sell his ticket. So far, he hasn't had any luck. The 43-year-old
man had his brother, identified only as "D.R.D.," list the ticket stub on eBay.
While 1,433 people hit the online auction, according to eBay's counter, no one
made a bid. That's probably because the price started at $25,000.
The 10-day auction ended June 5.
"Nobody seems to think it's the real McCoy," said the seller, who didn't want to
be named. "That troubles me, because it is an extraordinary piece of music
history. I personally think, 'Wow, this thing is amazing and how the hell was my
own brother the recipient of such a gift?'"
The stub for a floor seat inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which has Shakur's
first name handwritten on it, was given away by Shakur as he left the arena
Sept. 7, 1996, according to the ticket holder. It was confirmed in December 1996
by the MGM's sales office that a block of 12 tickets was sold to Death Row
Records (now called Tha Row).
"I didn't know who he was at the time," the man said. "He was walking with a big
guy, who I later found out was [record producer] Suge Knight. Tupac looked at me
and said, 'Here you go, boy. Enjoy this,' and handed me his ticket. He looked at
me like I was a regular guy who might want it. I stuck it in my pocket. My wife
used it as a bookmark for a while."
It wasn't until Shakur's death, and the publicity it generated, that the man
realized what he had. Shakur was gunned down near the Las Vegas Strip following
the boxing match.
The seller vowed to put the ticket on eBay and try again.
"I've read about silly things being auctioned off at ridiculous prices, so I
just put up some outrageous number to see what would happen," he said.
Next time, he said, he'll start the auction at a much lower price.
Identity mystery
Las Vegas police have asked the Immigration and Naturalization Service to help
identify the origin of a man suspected of pulling off a $2 million jewelry
heist.
"He told us he was from Serbia," Metro Police Sgt. Tim Shalhoob said. "But in
court he said he was Croatian."
The man didn't work alone. Thieves stole an estimated $2 million worth of
jewels, including unusual diamonds, from an exhibition at the Sands Convention
Center on June 2. Juro Markelic, 46, was arrested hours after a 55-carat yellow
diamond pendant worth more than $711,000 was snatched from the jewelry show.
But exactly what country the suspect is from remains a mystery.
"We don't have a history of who he is," Shalhoob said. "The INS is running his
fingerprints to see where he came from."
Miller time
Newly elected Las Vegas City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief is distancing herself
from former Councilman Steve Miller. During her campaign, Miller apparently
advised the political newcomer, who ended up ousting two-term Councilman Michael
McDonald in the midst of an FBI political corruption probe.
Now, Moncrief says she doesn't know Miller -- at least that's what she told the
Review-Journal in an article published June 15. But that's not what those
intimately familiar with Moncrief's campaign are saying. According to them,
Moncrief called Miller on her cell phone "several times a day" seeking Miller's
counsel. Moncrief's multiple calls to Miller ended after he attended a victory
party for Moncrief at Hurricane Harry's, the sources said.
Now that Moncrief has been meeting with her new colleagues at City Hall, she
appears to have dropped Miller like a hot potato. She told the R-J: "I
guess there were rumors I was going to hire Steve Miller for one of my
positions. I'm not going to hire Steve Miller. I don't even know him."
Really? That's not what some from her camp say.
Not only did Moncrief call Miller several times a day during her run for office,
sources say, but she promised him "continuously, at least a dozen times" that
she was going to appoint him as a liaison once she made it into office. Instead,
Moncrief cut off contact with Miller until June 15, when she let him know she
was getting help from Tom Letizia to pay off her campaign debt.
Letizia, Mayor Oscar Goodman's former campaign manager, has been doing publicity
for the Crazy Horse Too topless joint. The club, owned by Rick Rizzolo, is a
target of an ongoing federal investigation.
Moncrief has also denied having a relationship with former casino owner Bob
Stupak. In several TV interviews, she used language similar to her Miller
denials: "I barely know him." She referred to Stupak as an "acquaintance."
In fact, Moncrief, a critical care nurse at University Medical Center, met
Stupak after his March 1995 motorcycle accident, when she was on duty at UMC.
Stupak's head injuries left him in a coma for several weeks and required
multiple surgeries.
Stupak showed up at Moncrief's victory celebration at about 11:30 p.m. Fifteen
minutes later, Moncrief and Stupak walked out of the restaurant, arm in arm.
Cathy Scott is a Las Vegas-based freelance journalist and author of such
titles as Murder of a Mafia Daughter, The Killing of Tupac Shakur
and Death in the Desert.