Spencer said as they were walking to the meeting, Hannah "explained to me that Vick was an upstanding guy. It was already hard on black people these days and if we could keep Vick's name out of it, it would be better."
Spencer and Hannah are black.
Alvin Spencer, a security screener at Atlanta's international airport, with his watch, which went missing for six days in October. The watch came into the possession of Michael Vick.
(Photos Erik S. Lesser For The Washington Post)
|
|
What happened later that day is also in dispute. Hannah said Johnson came to the airport, met with Spencer and offered him $450 for his trouble and lost work time. Hannah said Spencer responded that $450 "was an insult to his manhood and that he would have to sleep on it and get back with him the following day."
But Spencer and Johnson said there were no negotiations that day because Vick had agreed to return the watch the following morning.
The Next Day
Vick flew back to Atlanta but went to practice instead of meeting with Spencer that morning to return his watch, leaving Johnson to meet with Spencer and Hannah in the police precinct.
The three men differ in the size of the settlement discussed. Spencer said Johnson offered as much as $4,000. Hannah said Johnson agreed to pay Spencer as much as $1,000. Johnson said he never offered more than $450, which was done "out of the kindness of [Vick's] heart."
Hannah said he believed Spencer was "attempting to extort money from the Falcon organization" by increasing his financial demands to $20,000 and that Spencer became so upset at one point that he cried.
"I did tell him I would not tolerate extortion of any kind by him because he was attempting to extort $20,000 from Mr. Johnson and the Falcon organization," Hannah said.
But Spencer said that Hannah and Johnson pressed him to come up with an amount that would settle the issue. Spencer said he never cried but was anxious because he was late for work. Spencer said he threw out the $20,000 figure, knowing that he would be turned down, because he wanted the meeting to end.
"I said, 'I'm not looking for money. I want my watch,' " Spencer said. "They kept saying, 'Give us the figure. Give us the figure.' I just wanted to get out or get the paperwork [on filing charges] done."
Spencer denies the extortion charge. TSA officials defended Spencer and questioned why he was not arrested if indeed he was attempting to commit extortion in front of police.
Spencer "was not accused of any crime," said Yolanda Clark, a spokeswoman for the agency. "He went through the appropriate channels established to reclaim his watch back. The screener was the victim of having his property taken. That's the bottom line."
At some point, Vick joined the meeting by phone. Spencer said Vick did not seem eager to return the watch, although "I asked him did he have any intentions to bring me my watch and do you understand the watch is stolen?" Spencer said. "I couldn't get through to him that I wanted the watch back."
Hannah said he told Vick that he needed the names of the two men who had traveled with him, adding that they could be charged with a crime if there was probable cause. "Vick got agitated and said, '[Expletive] no, it was a mistake,' " Hannah said. Hannah said he gave the phone back to Johnson, who said that Vick indicated the two people with him were Harris and Phillips.
