Former WWE star Rico Wrestling's answer to McGarnagle?

drayme · 19-06-2011 1:36am #1

From the Observer:

Former WWE wrestler Rico Costantino, 49, was the subject of one of those I-Team investigative news reports in his home city of Las Vegas. Costantino, who used the name Rico, doing an Adrian Street gimmick, was a law enforcement officer in Las Vegas before starting pro wrestling at a relatively old age, first signing with WWE at 37. He actually did great in developmental, so great that when he and John Cena were a tag team in OVW, and they had great chemistry as a team, Costantino was the star of the team. But the age worked against him when called up, as they felt he was too old to invest in. The story noted that he just returned as a senior supervisor with the Vegas Taxi Cab authority after a lengthy suspension. The story quoted one officer as saying Costantino is a hot shot who crosses the line, enforcing laws that don’t have to do with taxis, such as pulling over cars for traffic violations, and has rep for using excessive force and he’s always in the middle of controversy. Officer James Dudley (yes, that’s his real name, I wonder if there’s an officer Johnny Rodz) filed a report noting in 2008 when a man skipped out on an $18 fare, the two worked together to find him in an apartment, and banged on his door. When there was no answer, Costantino pulled out a large knife, used it to pry open a window and got into the apartment. Dudley said Costantino was bragging and laughing about the incident. Another officer, Kevin Hinkle, said in 2009 he saw at least five incidents where Costantino tracked down people who skipped out of paying fares and used knives to pry open windows and get into their homes, that he also used a metal baton to smash private property and that he would sometimes drive up to 100 miles per hour to get to the scene of a minor cab fare dispute. In April 2010, Costantino responded to a call for someone who skipped out on a fare of less than $10 speeding down the strip, lost control of his car and smashed into a palm tree in front of the Imperial Palace, causing heavy damage to his police car. Okay, that scene clinches it. I’m doing a movie on this guy. A cab driver filed a complaint against Costantino saying he pulled him over for a minor traffic violation, and handcuffed him to the bumper of his police car. Costantino worked from 1985 to 1987 as a police officer, but was so controversial at that job that the police chief had to call a news conference to fire him after he brutally beat up an Air Force Sergeant he pulled over for a traffic violation. It was the second time he had brutally beaten up an African American and was named in a multi-million dollar wrongful death suit. Another officer, Scott Lewis said, “He used to tell stories about how he would get out of the patrol car with dog leash on his neck and his Sergeant would take the dog leash off and he would go into a house and beat people up and tell them to leave Las Vegas.” Man, if that guy told those stories to Vince when he was hired, he’d have been given this crazy vigilante cop gimmick which is a hell of a lot better than playing Adrian Street for longevity in this business. The story noted that Costantino is still the No. 2 ranked enforcement supervisor in the taxi cab authority.