[Vilma#51]

Bam Margera's Uncle Don Vito Held Without Bail On Suspicion Of Child Sexual Assault
08.21.2006 3:15 PM EDT

Police spokesperson says Vincent Margera appeared intoxicated; formal charges to be filed Wednesday.
Vincent Margera
Photo: Peter Kramer/ Getty Images

Vincent Margera — better known as Don Vito to viewers of "Viva La Bam" — was arrested in Colorado on Friday and held on suspicion of two counts of sexual assault on a child, according to a spokesperson for Colorado's Lakewood Police







Department.

Margera, 50, is suspected of inappropriately fondling or groping 12- and 14-year-old girls during separate incidents at a signing event at Woodward Skatepark at the Colorado Mills mall in Lakewood, Colorado, Friday night. Because the incident involves sexual assault on a child, Lakewood Police spokesperson Steve Davis said he was unable to release much information, but said formal charges would be filed on Wednesday. In the meantime, Margera remains behind bars at the Jefferson County Jail, with no bail being offered, according to a jail spokesperson.

Davis said a cell-phone photo of the alleged crime has been taken into evidence and that the allegation that Margera inappropriately fondled or groped the girls was corroborated by enough witnesses for police to make the arrest. The authorities were tipped off to the alleged crime when someone other than the two juveniles called in to report it, Davis said, declining to elaborate on who made the call. In addition, Davis said Margera, who appeared intoxicated — results from a blood test are not yet available — allegedly made some "very ugly" remarks to the two female officers who arrested him.

The elder Margera, often the butt of pranks pulled by nephew Bam on the MTV series "Viva La Bam," was frequently portrayed as mumbling unintelligibly and being quick-to-anger on the show. A spokesperson for the Margera family could not be reached for comment at press time.

Bam, a professional skateboarder, was not with his uncle during the signing, according to reports. Vincent Margera had come to Colorado to film promotional spots for the Web site ManiaTV.com, which broke news on the arrest. A spokesperson for ManiaTV said Margera had also been in town all week shooting material for "Don Vito TV," a reality show the online TV network is planning to launch.

"When he was finished working for us, he had another deal to sign autographs at the skate park, so we drove him [to his hotel] and the next thing you know we got a call from [a 'Viva La Bam' staffer/producer] saying [Margera had been arrested]," ManiaTV spokesperson Jason Damata said.

One of the Web site's reporters, Rob Talbert, spoke to Margera in jail over the weekend, according to a press release issued by Damata. Talbert described a "very serious and somber" Margera saying he signed autographs and took pictures with fans at the skate park, and 45 minutes after it ended was approached by police officers who asked him about the incident, which he denied.

"I then asked Don if he did it. He was very adamant about denying the allegations against him," Talbert stated in the press release. "He said that if he molested [the girl], why would the mother stand there and take pictures of him doing it? He then said that this is the kind of thing people like him have to watch out for. He said people are always trying to pick fights with him so they can sue him and this is the same sort of thing."

According to the press release, Margera asked Talbert if he remembered that when taking pictures with fans during the ManiaTV shoots, Margera would put his hands around guy's necks like he was strangling them and drape his arm around girls' shoulders and put his hand in front of their breast so it looked like he was grabbing them. Talbert said Margera would ask how old women were before he took pictures with them during the ManiaTV shoots.

[This story was originally published at 8:20 am E.T. on 08.21.2006]

— Gil Kaufman

[S-Dubb]

Thats just nasty. What is porn getting old Don? you sick f***! even if he's proven innocent he's still dog food.

[NoMoreHerm]

He doesn't have to be proven innocent, he's presumed innocent and has to be proven guilty. Sounds like a BS charge to me, although the idiot probably did something stupid and innappropriate. he will plead out to some lesser charge and get a slap on the wrist.

[JetsOhFive]

He doesn't have to be proven innocent, he's presumed innocent and has to be proven guilty. Sounds like a BS charge to me, although the idiot probably did something stupid and innappropriate. he will plead out to some lesser charge and get a slap on the wrist.

Innocent until proven guilty...isn't that the biggest load of horseshit anyones ever heard. Yeah that may be the law or whatever..but to everyone in the country...defendents are guilty until proven innocent.

[S-Dubb]

Innocent until proven guilty...isn't that the biggest load of horseshit anyones ever heard. Yeah that may be the law or whatever..but to everyone in the country...defendents are guilty until proven innocent.

[Smedsthejet]

Innocent until proven guilty...isn't that the biggest load of horseshit anyones ever heard. Yeah that may be the law or whatever..but to everyone in the country...defendents are guilty until proven innocent.

Exactly, the fact he has been arrested only on suspicion is enoguh for his image to be tarnished forever. It's like the case with Floyd Landis. Although it is entirely different, if Landis proves his innocence people are still going to consider him a drugs cheat. Likewise if Vito proves his innocence people will still think of him as a pedophile.

[Vilma#51]

Exactly, the fact he has been arrested only on suspicion is enoguh for his image to be tarnished forever. It's like the case with Floyd Landis. Although it is entirely different, if Landis proves his innocence people are still going to consider him a drugs cheat. Likewise if Vito proves his innocence people will still think of him as a pedophile.

No offense but he has no Image lol. He is mentaly ill and Bam pretty much fucked his image from the begain. i can just picture the arrest lmao

[NoMoreHerm]

Innocent until proven guilty...isn't that the biggest load of horseshit anyones ever heard. Yeah that may be the law or whatever..but to everyone in the country...defendents are guilty until proven innocent.

When did we appoint you as the representative for "everyone in the country"? guilty until proven innocent is a biggest load of horseshit that i've heard since the last time somebody suggested we ought to keep herm. You got to prove a man is guilty, not the other way around. Most of 'em are, but some of 'em ain't.

[JetsOhFive]

When did we appoint you as the representative for "everyone in the country"? guilty until proven innocent is a biggest load of horseshit that i've heard since the last time somebody suggested we ought to keep herm. You got to prove a man is guilty, not the other way around. Most of 'em are, but some of 'em ain't.

Has Barry Bonds been proven guilty? No he hasn't...but, do people think he is? Yes. And also, Smedsie mentioned the Landis thing. When some gets arrested for a major crime, they're immediately thought by most of the American public to be guilty whether he did it or not...and until he or she is proven innocent, then the public ease up. If you cant see that's how it is in this country you need to open your eyes.

[NoMoreHerm]

Has Barry Bonds been proven guilty? No he hasn't...but, do people think he is? Yes. And also, Smedsie mentioned the Landis thing. When some gets arrested for a major crime, they're immediately thought by most of the American public to be guilty whether he did it or not...and until he or she is proven innocent, then the public ease up. If you cant see that's how it is in this country you need to open your eyes.

You're the one that needs to open your eyes because you clearly don't understand the fact that the prosecutor will bear the burden of proof as to Vito's guilt. If the prosecutor doesn't have sufficient evidence - then the presumption of innocence is not met and vito ain't guilty. The nutjob walks out the front door of the courthouse. Just like Robert Blake did. Neither Floyd Landis or Barriod is ludicrous since those two haven't even been charged with a crime so that comparison fails. Vito is a defendant in a criminal case, he is presumed innocent. Maybe you don't get out very much, because you don't seem to know much about this country and they way the courts work: Juries come back with not guilty verdicts or hung verdicts everyday all over the country. Its a routine part of the system. Sometimes the prosecutor wins, sometmes the prosecutor loses. The fact that this happens means that the presumption of innocence is still very much alive and well in this country. Don't take my word for it, go to a courthouse or better yet Just ask the Gotti family : )

[JetsOhFive]

You're the one that needs to open your eyes because you clearly don't understand the fact that the prosecutor will bear the burden of proof as to Vito's guilt. If the prosecutor doesn't have sufficient evidence - then the presumption of innocence is not met and vito ain't guilty. The nutjob walks out the front door of the courthouse. Just like Robert Blake did. Neither Floyd Landis or Barriod is ludicrous since those two haven't even been charged with a crime so that comparison fails. Vito is a defendant in a criminal case, he is presumed innocent. Maybe you don't get out very much, because you don't seem to know much about this country and they way the courts work: Juries come back with not guilty verdicts or hung verdicts everyday all over the country. Its a routine part of the system. Sometimes the prosecutor wins, sometmes the prosecutor loses. The fact that this happens means that the presumption of innocence is still very much alive and well in this country. Don't take my word for it, go to a courthouse or better yet Just ask the Gotti family : )

Re-read the post of mine that you replied to and look at the bolded words.

Has Barry Bonds been proven guilty? No he hasn't...but, do people think he is? Yes. And also, Smedsie mentioned the Landis thing. When some gets arrested for a major crime, they're immediately thought by most of the American public to be guilty whether he did it or not...and until he or she is proven innocent, then the public ease up. If you cant see that's how it is in this country you need to open your eyes.

Obviously the courts feel that way, otherwise they wouldn't have let OJ off. But the majority of the American public doesn't feel the same. If someone is accused of a crime, their image is tainted forever..whether they're guilty or not.

[Smedsthejet]

Re-read the post of mine that you replied to and look at the bolded words.



Obviously the courts feel that way, otherwise they wouldn't have let OJ off. But the majority of the American public doesn't feel the same. If someone is accused of a crime, their image is tainted forever..whether they're guilty or not.

Exactly, the theory is innocent until proven otherwise but that isn't the case in the minds of the public. If someone is arrested and accused of a crime that stays with them forever.

[kelticwizard]

Exactly, the theory is innocent until proven otherwise but that isn't the case in the minds of the public. If someone is arrested and accused of a crime that stays with them forever.

Not always true. Richard Jewell, the guard at the World's Fair in Atlanta who saved people from being hurt by a bomb, then was later accused of planting that same bomb, became a hero of sorts for maintaining his innocence despite the government's best efforts to paint him as probably guilty. Perhaps they didn't show it in England, but here in the US all the networks showed this poor guy's apartment being searched by the Feds, with the investigators taking out boxes and boxes and boxes of "evidence" out and loading them into trucks like they had the case all wrapped up.

Then we waited for specifics in the days that followed. No specifics at all, just that they were weighing the "evidence". By the second day, I began to smell a rat, since usually the government releases damning evidence in the day or two after they find it.

After it was all over, the government had to admit they had no case against Jewell, and he became something of a hero for holding up under all that pressure.