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Philadelphia Daily News Tattle column: Tattle: Cop guilty in Broderick/Parker baby-mama spying [Philadelphia Daily News](Philadelphia Daily News (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 24--IN MARTINS FERRY, Ohio, the police chief is going to jail. A jury yesterday found suspended chief Barry Carpenter guilty of receiving stolen property, theft in office and tampering with evidence relating to a break-in at the home of Michelle Ross, the surrogate mother who carried twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Carpenter was acquitted on charges of burglary and unauthorized use of property or services. Carpenter put his head in his hands after the verdict was read. Prosecutors alleged that Carpenter broke into Ross' home in May, took items related to her pregnancy and the surrogacy and schemed with Police Chief Chad Dojack of neighboring Bridgeport to sell them to celebrity photographers. Dojack faces trial in January. Based on yesterday's verdict, he may want to make a deal. Carpenter had testified that he went into the home to check it out because he saw a door open. He said that he took photos of a surrogacy file that contained two ultrasound pictures, and photos of a plaster cast of a pregnant stomach. He said that he showed the photo of the cast to paparazzi and to several other people, but said that he never discussed selling items from the home to the photographers. Jurors deliberated for about 12 hours on Friday and yesterday. Carpenter faces a maximum 10 years in jail when sentenced Dec. 10. Until then, he must stay in his mother's home and will be monitored by a GPS device. The chief of police lives with his mother? Sounds like a sitcom. Michael Jackson update Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry says she's negotiating with AEG, the company that owns Staples Center, about reimbursing at least some of the $3.2 million that taxpayers spent on the Michael Jackson memorial. AEG spokesman Michael Roth had no comment. A recent city report concluded that the memorial actually boosted the local economy (maybe L.A. could prompt a few more famous people to die), but determined that there was no law in place at the time to force reimbursement. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has aggressively pursued repayment, prompting AEG's president to accuse him of bully tactics. There is a free lunch Varga restaurant (at the corner of 10th and Spruce streets) is offering a "Speed Lunch," guaranteeing diners a sandwich or salad with homemade soup for $9 -- and they'll be out in 30 minutes. Menu items include a Roasted Pork Loin Sandwich with broccoli rabe and sharp provolone; a Roasted Portobella Sandwich with roasted red peppers, arugula, warm mozzarella and basil; and a Chicken Caesar Salad with polenta croutons. Tattle has lunches for two (one drink per person) for two lucky winners. Simply e-mail [email protected] by today at 5 p.m. with your name, address and phone number and write: "I want a quick lunch with Varga's girls." Two winners will be picked at random. Tattbits --Charlie Chaplin's last home, a mansion at Corsier-sur-Vevey, by the shores of Lake Geneva, in Switzerland, will be turned into a permanent place of pilgrimage for his fans, his son Michael Chaplin said yesterday. The museum will feature objects from Chaplin's life and displays chronicling his rise from the music halls of his native London to stardom in Hollywood's silent movie era and beyond. The late actor/writer/director/co-founder of United Artists, whose classic films include "City Lights," "Modern Times" and "The Great Dictator" (rent them, thank Tattle later), was barred from the U.S. in 1952 over suspicions that he harbored communist sympathies. He returned briefly two decades later to receive an honorary Academy Award for his life work. Charlie Chaplin died in 1977. --Rainforest Foundation founder Sting says that Brazil's government should listen to the voices of indigenous groups before building a massive hydroelectric dam across the Xingu River in the Amazon rain forest. Brazilian officials say that the dam is needed to meet the energy demands of its growing economy, while environmentalists say that it will swallow rain forest, kill off native fish and displace thousands. Sting told a news conference Sunday in Sao Paulo that the decision to build the Belo Monte dam should be made by all Brazilians, especially the native communities that would be most affected. Oh, Sting. So worldly, yet so naive. --One of Tattle's favorite morning radio voices, Carl Kasell, is retiring from NPR's "Morning Edition." The 75-year-old Kasell has done the newscast during NPR's flagship morning program since its inception 30 years ago. NPR says that he will give his last broadcast on Dec. 30. Kasell will remain the judge and scorekeeper of "Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me!," NPR's weekly news quiz show. --According to TMZ.com, Candy Spelling has settled with Lourdes Serrano, the ex-maid who sued her. Lourdes contended that Candy was petty and cheap and no candidate for Boss of the Year. Terms of the settlement are confidential, but TMZ sources said that the maid got chump change -- although someone on Team Candy put it this way: "Maybe in maid money it's a lot." You know, people who live in houses with as many windows as Candy's has -- and got their houses merely by marrying a rich TV producer -- really shouldn't throw stones. If Tattle is ever worth $600 million, like Candy reportedly is, our maid will have a maid and her maid will have a manservant who'll be compensated well enough to have his own trophy wife. Daily News wire services contributed to this report. E-mail [email protected] To see more of the Philadelphia Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.philly.com/dailynews. Copyright (c) 2009, Philadelphia Daily News Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |