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Taunton man arrested after attempting to rob ATM using a hatchet

HUEY FREEMAN

H&R Staff Writer Herald-Review

Friday, July 15, 2011 3:01 am

With only a few endorsement deals left, a recent divorce settlement, a hefty house mortgage, and even a pay cut from Nike, Tiger Woods' lifestyle is looking a lot less glamorous.

When news broke a few weeks ago that Tiger Woods had signed an endorsement deal to hawk a heat rub in Japan, it was hard not to think of "Lost in Translation," or of the "Entourage" episode when Vincent Chase goes to China to do an energy drink commercial because he's out of money.

Although Woods was likely paid in the single-digit millions for the spot -- in which he takes a swing, rubs his back, and says, "Go Vantelin!" -- it's a far cry from campaigns for PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP - News), Gillette, and Accenture (NYSE: ACN - News). The last time Woods showed up in Japanese TV ads was in 1997, when he promoted Asahi Wonda coffee, back before he became a phenomenon. So the deal with Kowa (maker of the rub) seems more like a moment of desperation than a return to form.

It's no secret that Woods, once king of the sports world, has suffered financially since his fall from grace. His endorsement list shrank and his marriage ended in a divorce settlement reportedly worth $100 million. But now he may actually be hurting for funds. At the very least, there are signs that he isn't generating enough to comfortably cover his costs.

Earlier this week, the golfer's agent, Mark Steinberg, announced he would be joining the agency Excel Sports. Although that means Excel gets Woods too, the icon was conspicuously absent from the announcement. Steinberg left IMG at the end of May. It took two weeks, but on June 7, Woods announced via Twitter that he would be leaving with Steinberg.

IMG declined to comment on the details of Steinberg's departure, or on Tiger Woods, but a trusted Fortune source with reliable information tells us that IMG was none too broken up about losing Woods, because his endorsement earnings have fallen so dramatically. The source says IMG's commissions for 2011 -- they'll continue to get a chunk of Tiger's endorsement deals through 2013 -- will be as low as $1.5 million.

©Hunter Martin/Getty Images

That's a huge drop from two years ago. With giants like Gillette, Accenture, Tag Heuer, and Gatorade having jumped ship, Tiger's major deals are down to three: Nike (NYSE: NKE - News), Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS - News), and Kowa. His EA Sports video game, "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '12," set a first-week franchise record of 225,000 games sold. But our source also tells us that Tiger's Nike money fell by as much as 50% in 2010 (to about $10 million, down from $20 million in 2009) and that he will get the same reduced amount for 2011. The reason? Nike penalized him for his indiscretions, reducing his payment for two years as a response to his public behavior. Nike had no comment.

That Nike would have renegotiated Tiger's contract to give him a temporary pay cut may be hard to believe, but Bob Dorfman of Baker Street Advertising says, "That's not surprising. They're not going to release him entirely, because that's not the way they are, but [a pay reduction] would not surprise me at all."

As for the Kowa deal, Dorfman estimates its value at $4 million. Doug Shabelman of Burns Entertainment & Sports Marketing believes it's worth around $3 million.

Recent valuations of Tiger's overall endorsement earnings for 2011 have been between $60 million and $75 million. But based on our information about Nike, and on the Kowa estimates, the real number is likely closer to $20 million.

Woods' agent adamantly denies the assertion that the golfer is facing financial strain. "Tiger Woods is financially sound and strong, contrary to wide-ranging rumors and inaccurate figures in the media," Steinberg wrote in an email. "Stating anything else is incorrect and factually baseless."

The Woods P&L

Another factor that has undeniably fizzled is Tiger's tournament winnings. Woods won no majors in 2009, the first year that's happened since 2004. He went completely winless in 2010, and this year he's so far missed the U.S. Open, AT&T National, and British Open due to a knee injury. According to the PGA Tour website, Tiger's 2011 winnings so far total $571,363. Those are like pennies compared to the $10.9 million, $5.8 million, and $10.5 million he earned in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. In 2010, that dropped to $1.3 million.

Woods is still young, and undoubtedly one of the greatest golfers alive, but as he continues to stay off the links, that money stream dries up. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods Dubai, a billion-dollar project that was first set to open in 2009 with a golf course, pricey real estate, and restaurant, was scrapped in February.

As Tiger's revenues have declined, his expenses have only climbed. To begin with, there's the reported $100 million divorce settlement. And last August, Woods took out a $54.5 million mortgage on his home in Jupiter Island, Florida. According to the public document, Woods is required to pay off the mortgage in full by January of 2016, giving him a mere five and a half years to shed the debt. He's therefore paying more than $10 million each year, including his $431,042 in annual property taxes.

That 2010 property tax information comes from the district offices of Martin County, FL, where the home Woods now occupies alone is located. The property, which Woods purchased in 2006 for $44.5 million, is valued at around $47 million (the county values the house at $26.48 million, the land at $20.5 million). His 2010 improvements to the dwelling and the property cost him $6 million, including three separate residential pools, a tennis court, a golf green with a few holes, an elevator, and a 14,736-square foot improvement to the interior of the house -- evidence that Woods is not used to living cheaply. But the pace of his home improvements has slowed, according to online records of the county appraiser's office. So far there have been none in 2011.

Mark Steinberg says simply that there is no debt on Woods' Jupiter Island home, and declined to elaborate. But the Martin County clerk's office confirmed that their records show that the mortgage has not been paid off.

The Jupiter Island mega-mansion isn't the only Woods property. Among others, in 2007 he bought his mother property near his own, in Jupiter Island, for $2.4 million. In 2010, construction on that cost him another $2.6 million. Presumably, it's Woods himself that pays and will continue to pay all taxes on the home.

Between the divorce settlement and his recent mortgage, Tiger has faced recent debts to the tune of at least $160 million, though it's unknown how much of this he has now paid down. His endorsement earnings will not come close to this in 2011, and he's no longer adding much to his pot with golf winnings. Nike's decisive slash to his contract has not helped matters.

"Tiger remains one of the most popular and visible athletes in the world, demonstrated by television ratings, tournament attendance and various empirical polls," Steinberg says. "His endorsement future is strong and any additional partnerships will be announced at the appropriate time."

To fix up his financial short game, Tiger Woods is going to have to start making money again the old-fashioned way: by playing the sport he's known for

Creeping up to the front porch of a darkened house on the quiet, dim-lit street in West University, a young man begins to paint a giant penis on the front door.

The phallic roguery didn't end there. Nineteen-year-old William Tyler of Houston admits he painted another one on the side of the home on Arbuckle.

Tyler told West University police he was angry at a resident of the house, who he said was "harassing his cousin."

So a little after 2 a.m. June 8, in addition to the penises, Tyler also spray-painted "whore" and "slut," along with other obscenities, on the victim's Lexus and Toyota vehicles in the driveway, according to court documents.

He admitted to West University police that he poured paint stripper on top of the cars before gluing coins to the vehicles and placed some grass killer on the lawn.

On July 1, he returned to the residence and scratched the victim's Ford Explorer with a box cutter before slashing all four tires, according to court documents. The damages to the property exceeded $22,000.

Tyler is accused of vandalizing two other vehicles in the West University area with a box cutter, spray paint and a knife on that same day.

West University police arrested Tyler and an alleged accomplice, Amer Kumar, 23, on July 1. Tyler was charged Wednesday with criminal mischief.

Police allege that Kumar remained in a getaway car for Tyler.

Tyler and Kumar were released from custody, each on $2,000 bail.

FROM ABC-13

A Cook County Jail inmate who is awaiting trial in the brutal beating of two women with a baseball bat during a robbery in Bucktown last year has been charged with smuggling marijuana into the jail, prosecutors said today.

Prosecutors charged that Heriberto Viramontes arranged to have his girlfriend, Kira Lundgren, bring in a package of marijuana during visiting hours on June 11. Lundgren was arrested on her way out of the jail and the package was discovered during a search of Viramontes’ cell.

Also arrested on June 11 and charged was a jail guard accused of letting Lundgren smuggle contraband into the jail, Jerome Prusa, 50, of Westchester, according to the Cook County sheriff's police.

On June 11, Lundgren hid a small amount of marijuana in her shoe and went to Division 10 of the jail to visit Viramontes, according to a sheriff's statement. Once in the visiting room, she took the marijuana out and taped it to the underside of a table.

An undercover officer investigating smuggling into the jail division then came to the same visiting room and was approached by Prusa, who pointed the officer to the marijuana Lundgren had allegedly left and asked if it could be given to Viramontes at the same time.

Prusa then let the undercover officer into a secure area of the jail with the contraband and then back into the visiting room, according to the sheriff's statement.

Both Lundgren and Prusa were immediately arrested. The drugs were later found in Viramontes' cell when guards tossed it, the statement said. Police found two knives in Prusa's uniform when he was taken into custody.

He has been de-deputized and suspended pending an employment hearing and has resigned his position as an auxiliary officer for the LaGrange Park Police Department, the statement said.

Viramontes, 32, and Lundgren, 22, each were charged with one count of bringing contraband into a penal institution. She is free on a $10,000 bond, records show.

Prusa, who is free on a $40,000 bond, has been charged with four counts of official misconduct, two counts of possession of a weapon in a penal institution, one count of bringing a weapon into a penal institution and one count of bringing contraband into a penal institution.

According to records Prusa has been with the sheriff's department since July 2005.

Viramontes and his former girlfriend, Marcy Cruz, 26, are awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery and aggravated unlawful restraint. Authorities allege that Viramontes struck Stacy Jurich, 24, and Natasha McShane, 23, with a baseball bat as they walked home in the Bucktown neighborhood on April 23, 2010. Cruz allegedly waited in a vehicle and drove Viramontes from the scene, authorities said.

McShane, a native of Northern Ireland, bore the brunt of the beating, sustaining head injuries that have left her unable to walk, speak or dress herself, the Tribune reported earlier this year.