Manny The Hippie
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Wednesday,
Aug. 28, 1996 · Page
A 3
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© 1996 San Francisco Examiner | |
Back to Ohio for Manny the Hippie
Celebrity jailbird
Diana Walsh
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
Manny the Hippie walked out of jail saying he was a new hippie, ready to preach against the wrongs of drug dealing.
"If I can convince one kid that dealing drugs is not the way to go, it'll be worth the whole ordeal," said San Francisco's most celebrated prisoner, who made $5,000 bail Tuesday after being arrested last week on a probation violation from Ohio.
Manny, 20, whom talk show host David Letterman plucked out of the Haight-Ashbury and made a star earlier this year, emerged from the Hall of Justice tank carrying his skateboard and promptly was surrounded by reporters, his agent and a young autograph seeker.
But freedom wasn't the first thing on his mind: "I need a cigarette," Manny said.
"How do you feel?" a reporter asked.
"I feel great, do you have a cigarette?" Manny replied.
Neither Manny nor his lawyer would disclose who put up the $5,000 bail, but a source familiar with the case said it had been posted by KBGG-FM radio officials, who had waged a "Free Manny" campaign on the air.
Skipped out on Ohio
Manny, known to authorities as Micah Papp, first ran afoul of the law in April 1995 when he was arrested for selling an eighth of an ounce of marijuana to an undercover cop in Xenia, Ohio.
As part of a deal that would earn him an early release from prison, he agreed to work with police in their quest against other drug dealers. But when the cops went to find him for their first planned bust, Manny was in California.
Police picked him up when he returned home for a Christmas visit with his mom. He was released again in March after a judge sentenced him to five years' probation. Two days later, he was headed back to California, vowing never to set foot in Ohio again.
Then he bumped into Letterman, who was here in May broadcasting his talk show. Through Letterman, Manny introduced the nation to the adjectives "schwag" (bad), "dank" (good) and "diggity dank" (very good). He became a regular on the show and got a gig on KBGG as well.
Warming to the buckeye state
After a while, Letterman stopped calling, and so did the radio folks. Then a story in an Ohio newspaper revealed he'd skipped town. By Aug. 19, he was in the custody of San Francisco police.
At first Manny was adamant about not going back to Ohio. "It sucks," he said.
After a week in jail, with no cigarettes and two beatings at the hands of fellow inmates, Manny reconsidered.
First, he waived his right to fight extradition. When Ohio authorities made no move to come get him, he offered to fly there by himself. When San Francisco police balked at that, his attorney arranged to have bail set this week so he could turn himself in to Ohio authorities.
Manny said he was heading back to Ohio soon, where he could face 18 months in prison. He's hoping to be released on probation that he could serve in San Francisco.
Manny says he's learned a lesson from all this: "If you run away from your problems, they are just going to catch up to you and make it worse than it is."
He said he planned to stay away from drugs and hoped his situation would be a valuable lesson for kids. He wants to do a benefit for Rock Medicine, a program of The Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic.
His press conference over, the new, law-abiding Manny jaywalked across Bryant Street to sign his bond bail papers.
posts bail, promises to fly back to his hometown to face probation violatio