Tampa Bay Buccaneers legend Warren Sapp’s efforts to access a restricted part of a government building in South Florida have led to legal issues for the Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Sapp has now been charged with interfering with city employees’ performance of official duties and has been ordered by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office to enter pretrial supervision and refrain from contacting any of his alleged victims.
The origin of the dispute remains murky.
As seen in footage Sapp has been posting on social media since March, the retired defensive tackle has been regularly recording his hostile interactions with police, security and staff at Hollywood, Florida’s city hall. And although many records can be accessed online or via mail, the 53-year-old has repeatedly tried to obtain the desired files through a restricted area of the South Florida office.
‘It’s restricted,’ an officer is seen telling Sapp in one video. ‘I’m telling you it’s restricted.’
‘It’s not,’ Sapp is heard responding in the footage he recorded on his phone.
Sapp recorded several videos of himself trying to gain access to a restricted area of city hall
As seen in footage Sapp has been posting on social media since March, he’s been recording his hostile interactions with police, security and staff at Hollywood, Florida’s city hall
Sapp told one clerk to ‘go back and correct the record’ before adding he would ‘give [her] one chance’ to comply, according to a court file obtained by The Daily Mail.
Footage also shows Sapp being threatened with a trespassing warning, only to call the officer’s bluff.
‘I’m gonna make you do it,’ Sapp said. ‘Write it up.’
Another clip shows Sapp questioning an officer’s citizenship: ‘You weren’t born here, were you? Were you born here, Chung?’
Sapp is not seen making explicit threats, but does aggressively announce his intentions to barge into a restricted area.
When Sapp vowed he was ‘going through that door,’ an officer made it clear that was a bad idea.
Ex-Bucs star Warren Sapp smiles after being inducted into Tampa’s Ring of Honor
‘If you touch me, we’re gonna have a problem,’ the officer told Sapp.
‘Vice versa,’ Sapp responded. ‘If you touch me, we’re going to have a problem.’
Sapp could risk arrest if he violates his pretrial conditions. He does not currently have an attorney listed on the Broward County Clerk of Courts website.
His next court appearance is scheduled for June 10.
A Florida native who was recruited to the University of Miami as a tight end, Sapp would switch to defensive tackle and quickly became a nightmare for Big East competition en route to All-American honors.
He was taken 12th overall in the 1995 draft by Tampa and later helped the Bucs win their first Super Bowl over the Oakland Raiders in 2003. Sapp would ultimately sign with Oakland, where he finished his career in 2007.
Since then, the outspoken Sapp has battled financial issues and a domestic violence charge that was later dropped.
