Tiff with cops lands singing star in jail

Karen Zekan

Friday, March 26, 1999 | 11:03 a.m.

What started as a routine investigation for Metro Police took an unexpected turn when a driver for legendary singing star Phyllis McGuire crossed paths with detectives, and McGuire ended up going to jail.

The chain of events began about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Smith's Food and Drug Stores parking lot off Rancho Drive and Charleston Boulevard.

Sgt. Clint Robison said his detectives had gone to the area as part of an ongoing investigation when they saw a man get out of a white four-door Cadillac and start a conversation with the person at the center of Metro's investigation.

During the conversation, the two men exchanged a piece of paper before the Cadillac's driver, later identified as Gerald Earl, 28, got back in the car and drove out of the lot, Robison said.

Robison didn't elaborate on the specifics of the investigation because the case is ongoing. He said, however, that the exchange between the two men was enough to potentially compromise the integrity of the case.

Concerned about what may have transpired between the two men, detectives followed the Cadillac out of the lot with the intention, Robison said, of finding out who the driver was and how he was connected to the other man.

The Cadillac was heading north on Rancho when police, about a half-mile behind the car, attempted to stop the driver. The detectives, who were traveling in unmarked vehicles, as well as police in a black and white patrol vehicle turned on their lights and siren. The Cadillac sped up, made a U-turn to go south, then U-turned again to go north, Robison said.

The Cadillac eventually stopped at Rancho Circle, off Rancho Drive, near the entrance to McGuire's home. Police approached and began questioning the driver.

"We were trying to establish (who he was), and we had to make sure that everything was OK," the sergeant said.

Police at one point ordered Earl out of the car, describing the man throughout the encounter as "a complete gentleman." Earl provided the officers with his identification, including a concealed-weapons permit for the .45-caliber Glock pistol he had in his holster.

The first time police said they were aware that a passenger was in the car was after they had stopped the Cadillac. Earl explained to the officers that he was the passenger's bodyguard and that the woman was McGuire.

"We instructed the bodyguard to have the woman go inside," Robison said, explaining that the traffic stop was very close to her home. "She refused and instead was unruly and combative."

In his report, Officer Shannon McHale said McGuire refused each time officers asked her to get out of the car -- a request police were making for safety's sake to ensure that there were no other firearms inside.

"McGuire began yelling and cursing at officers and also began yelling at her driver, telling him he was fired for cooperating with us," McHale wrote, adding that the 68-year-old woman was slurring her words, appeared intoxicated and smelled of alcohol.

McHale said he moved out of her reach a bag that McGuire was grabbing for and that she then got out of the Cadillac, "screaming, waving and flailing her arms" around the officers' faces and then struck McHale in the right shoulder.

McHale grabbed McGuire's arms to keep her from striking again and said McGuire hit him in the right cheek with her head.

"I informed McGuire that she was under arrest for battery on a police officer," McHale said. "McGuire then renewed her attempts to get away and was placed in handcuffs."

McGuire allegedly continued to scream at the officers, kick McHale's right leg and attempt to kick other officers while being put in the patrol car -- all of which police say they have on tape. Tape recordings, surreptitious or not, are legally permissible, Robison said.

McGuire was booked into Clark County Detention Center for one count of obstructing a police officer, a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. She also was charged with battery on a police officer, a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

McGuire was released on her own recognizance.

McGuire's attorney, John Moran Jr., said he is "confident this unfortunate episode will be resolved quickly."

"Miss McGuire is a completely innocent victim of an irrational and irresponsible police action," Moran said. "We live in the United States and that means a woman is entitled to sit in her own car in front of her own house without being roughed up by Metro officers."

Robison said the sensitivity of the investigation required that detectives find out who Earl and McGuire were. The officers claim they had never heard of McGuire before.

"We have to draw the line at some point," Robison said when asked about the charges and whether police could have been more lenient with an intoxicated person.

"We put up with verbal abuse and people spitting on us. There is always a certain amount of discretion we can use, but when it gets to the point of assaulting an officer, we are not going to tolerate it regardless of who it is. She did it, and it was intentional."

Sheriff Jerry Keller agreed with Robinson's reasoning, affirming that "no police officer should have to endure that type of abuse."

"Our officers are trained to treat everyone the same."

Police said Earl told them that he was ordered by McGuire to lose the car following them during the pursuit.

"He wasn't using really good judgment," Robison said. "The traffic stop easily could have ended up with a 'sorry for bothering you, have a good night,' and it's unfortunate it got to the point it did."

Moran, a former police officer, said he was "appalled at the way Metro Police mistreated and manhandled one of Las Vegas' most respected citizens and one of the world's most talented and beloved entertainers."

"I know," Moran said, "that I speak for my fellow citizens when I express my personal apology for the way she was treated."

McGuire's celebrity stems from the 1950s when she and her two sisters formed "The McGuire Sisters," a singing trio whose hits included "Sugartime" and "Sincerely."

Her life with Chicago mob kingpin Sam Giancana in the late '60s and early '70s was the subject of the HBO movie "Sugartime" -- a movie that McGuire considered taking legal action against, claiming it was filled with distortions.

McGuire, known to throw lavish parties on occasion, is well known among the movers and shakers of Las Vegas -- among them her close friend, Bob Stupak -- as well as in the high social circles of Hollywood financier Kirk Kerkorian and Lee Ioccoca.

McGuire performed at Gov. Kenny Guinn's inaugural ball in January in Las Vegas. She and her sisters were inducted into the Casino Legends Hall of Fame at the Tropicana hotel-casino in February.

Sun reporter Jeff German contributed to this report.