Man Who Allegedly Pranked NFL, NBA Coaches Arrested - East Idaho News
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Man Who Allegedly Pranked NFL, NBA Coaches Arrested

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GETTY 120913 Handcuffs?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1386650514033Stockbyte/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) — Police have arrested a man in Los Angeles who they say pranked at least a dozen coaches from the NFL, NBA and college football into believing he was offering them jobs with pro or college teams.

Kenneth Edward Tarr, 32, was arrested Monday morning and charged with felony eavesdropping, for allegedly recording the prank calls, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Under California law, it is illegal to record someone without their consent.

He had not been arraigned as of Monday evening, according to the LAPD.

Law enforcement sources could not immediately say just how many franchises and school coaching staffs were affected.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy was one victim of the hoax, an official tells ABC News.

Earlier this year, the University of Southern California athletic director Pat Haden said that two people pretending to be representatives of his school contacted two coaches and attempted to discuss the Trojans’ coaching vacancy with them.

Dungy talked about his apparent contact with USC on a national radio show, saying he turned down the representative.

Dungy later tweeted that he had been misled by “someone acting on their own.” He apologized to Haden for the mix-up.

The NFL has not commented as of Monday evening.

Tarr said in a recent interview with ABC News’ Nick Watt that he is more talented than Andy Kaufman or any comedians working today, and that he deserves to be paid more than Kobe Bryant or any pro athlete. But he said Hollywood isn’t reading his work, and that hoaxing and pranking is his way of getting his art out there in the world.

On Nov. 3, Tarr texted Watt: “Hi, I have made many sports hoaxes the last couple of weeks. I am speaking to laker GM Mitch Kupchak this week.”

Later that evening Watt received another text from Tarr.

“I spoke to Clippers GM last week and posted the video on youtube. It is pretty funny and a great prank,” the text said. “The Clippers GM thinks that I am a famous retired basketball player named Shareef Abdur Rahim [director of player personnel for the Sacramento Kings] and he shares key information to me. I think this is the new frontier and I could potentially get some very interesting sports and political news and also som funny hoaxes as well… I like to do the hoaxes in sports and media and politics lately because it uses real concepts and can make news very easily I predict Gabriella, James, DShane, Grover, who knows????”

Tarr told The Village Voice in an article that was published this past June that he has a history of pranking. Tarr told the publication that his pranking ways landed him on The Ricki Lake Show, in which he pretended that his greatest wish in life was to sleep with his best friend’s girlfriend.

Tarr said he scammed Fox’s Judge Alex show by pretending to be a plumber who got locked in a mortuary overnight, and then got stiffed on his bill. Tarr won this fake case, earning $1,137, according to The Village Voice.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

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