Model gets probation for ugly behavior with police

TAMPA — It was Dec. 23, and a Temple Terrace police officer had just pulled Rebecca Reyes over for broken taillights, and all the Playboy model wanted to do was hide her boyfriend's Christmas present before he spotted it.

One problem: She got out of her truck and ignored officers' orders to get back in. Then she mouthed off when one of them took hold of her arm.

She ended up bruised and facing a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest without violence.

A jury convicted her Tuesday, but Hillsborough County Judge Thomas Barber spared Reyes, 21, jail time. He sentenced her to 12 months' probation, 48 hours of community service picking up trash with the Sheriff's Office and a $500 fine.

Reyes — who says she has posed for Playboy, GQ and Esquire under the name of Reby Sky — stood before TV cameras after the verdict and maintained that she did nothing wrong.

Looking back, she said, "I probably wouldn't have cursed because that seemed to offend a few people."

The incident pitted the 105-pound woman against two male officers, each about twice her size.

They said she started cursing when they asked her several times to get back into her truck. They pushed her up against a patrol car to try and handcuff her, but had to put her on the ground when she continued to twist and turn, they said.

"She was just belligerent and would not listen to reason at all," Officer William W. Cooper said.

Reyes testified that she had just pulled into her apartment complex and text-messaged her boyfriend to meet her when she was stopped. She said she needed to hide the wallet and digital picture frame she had bought for him.

Before her boyfriend arrived, one of the officers "came at me like a bull," she testified. They threw her on the ground, she said, and "it felt like there was an elephant on top of me."

Her mug shot shows a bruised shoulder. Reyes recalls trying to keep her face from getting scratched. She is seeing a therapist and a priest to deal with the pain of the incident, she said.

Her attorney, Jay Hebert, said police, not his client, caused the situation to escalate.

"No citizen," he said, "deserves to be treated like this over a broken taillight."

Comments on this article

by bill	Apr 2, 2008 5:23 PM
Follow police orders and usually all be fine. Don't follow the police orders and the cops feel their authority is being challenged. This now becomes an ego thing. Hell will be paid.

by bill	Apr 2, 2008 5:23 PM
Follow police orders and usually all be fine. Don't follow the police orders and the cops feel their authority is being challenged. This now becomes an ego thing. Hell will be paid.

by Tom	Apr 2, 2008 5:23 PM
Mr. Hebert, you are a jerk. She didn't get "treated like this over a broken taillight" and you know it. What would have happened had she stayed in the truck and kept her mouth shut? Nothing! Typical defense attorney talk.

by Clark	Apr 2, 2008 5:23 PM
Reyes is seeing a priest to deal with the pain? Is that Before, During or After her stripper gigs?

by luis	Apr 2, 2008 5:23 PM
Probably a little bad attitude on both sides. Nevertheless, police are help to a higher standard. They are given awesome powers over the citizens and must act accordingly. In Ybor, I've witnessed mutilple police, variuos times, man-handle p

by max	Apr 2, 2008 10:19 AM
Respect those in authority over you and you end up with a ticket and you go on your way. Period. If we would follow this principle as a society we would be a lot better off.

by bill Milner	Apr 2, 2008 10:19 AM
Follow police orders and usually all be fine. Don't follow the police orders and the cops feel their authority is being challenged. This now becomes an ego thing. Hell will be paid.

by Kay	Apr 2, 2008 10:18 AM
Whatever happened to the common sense in that dept? Things sure were different when I was a kid.

by justthinking	Apr 2, 2008 10:18 AM
It wasn't because of a broken tailgate! It was because of her actions! Police are not mind readers - she could have been going for a weapon in the trunk! She's a spoiled brat!

by Gene	Apr 2, 2008 10:18 AM
Someone please tell the attorney: "No policeman deserves to be treated with profanity either. When an officer says, "Get back in the truck," it might be wise to "get back in the truck." She is fortunate to get off so lightl

by Jimmy	Apr 2, 2008 10:18 AM
"She is seeing a therapist and a priest to deal with the pain of the incident, she said." Oh Puuuuleaaaaaaaaaaaaase! Get over yourself.

by Steve	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
No one has the right to resist arrest, right or wrong. The remedy for wrongfully arrested is in civil court later. The jury convited her. She did do something "wrong".

by Debbie	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
I think she needs to get over herself. Wow - you pose nude!!! I'm so impressed! HA. A broken taillight is a violation. Whether it seems petty or not. She's a big girl - she should know how to conduct herself if stopped or foll

by Cindy	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
"Over a broken tailight" YES... but do not follow police orders and you can EXPECT this kind of treatment!! I guess she heard Tampa does not punish pretty girls so she figures the rules that apply to everyone else does not apply to her....W

by A.H.	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
Yes, the cops were a bit harsh, but she was acting like a spoiled brat to begin with. She deserves the punishment she got.

by susan	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
she REALLY needs to get over herself. seeing a priest for the pain of the incident. i saw the pics and it's just scratches.

by Kelly	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
Of course her boyfriend's gift was a digital picture frame. Let me guess, she downloaded pictures of herself onto it. Justice prevailed, even though she received the same charges that she was offered before trial. What's up with that?

by Amanda	Apr 2, 2008 10:17 AM
No citizen should be treated like this during a routine traffic stop, however Ms. Reyes's behavior caused the situation to escalate beyond routine. If she had followed the officers' instructions, there would not have been need for any of th

by Jeff	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
Get over yourself. She was in Playboy, Esquire and GQ and she was driving a pickup. Yeehaw!!

by frankie	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
Again the double standard. Men are sentenced more harshly. A woman even with {so, so looks} can can get a skate on the charges "Trash collecting and Probation" It was almost like her sentence was air brushed away; although not as much

by Kurt	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
If she followed simple directions it would not have gotten this far, she would have likely gotten a warning and that would have been it. She caused it to escalate by her actions.

by mike	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
"please don't hate me because I'm beautiful."

by typical	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
Yet another example of local law enforcement abusing their authority. Anyone who's been stopped in TT knows this could have just as easily been them. How's it look on the cop's video tape?

by dude	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
listen and obey the police,and she would have not been in the pokey or court.

by Debbie	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
Maybe instead of seeing "a therapist and a priest" she should be watching Nanny 911 to learn how spoiled brats are dealt with. Good looks don't excuse bad behavior - ugly is as ugly does, Rebecca.

by Jim	Apr 2, 2008 10:16 AM
She probably had an attitude to begin with but to put her down on the ground in such a manner to bruise a shoulder is not called for, especially to a women who weighs a mere 105 pounds.Some cops play the "Im God" thing too far

by CrazyIvan	Apr 2, 2008 10:15 AM
Well, if she had done as she was told, perhaps this wouldn't have happened. But she's obviously too self-absorbed to get this little fact. "Me, me, me -- it's all about me." She may be cute, but she sounds l

by Evelyn	Apr 2, 2008 10:15 AM
Deserved what she got. When she went to the back of her truck, those cops didnt know what she was doing or possibly getting! For all they knew, she was reaching for weapon and not listening to their instructions made the cops more cautious

by LINDA	Apr 2, 2008 10:14 AM
I THINK SHE NEEDS TO GET OVER HERSELF, AND THE COPS WERE A LITTLE UNFAIR.

by Richard	Apr 2, 2008 10:12 AM
Note to her attorney: Hey, doofus, she was not treated like that over a broken taillight. She was treated like that because she ignored the officer's commands to get back in her truck and started cursing at them. Get it right.

by Ryan	Apr 2, 2008 10:11 AM
Does this even remotely qualify as the top story this morning?

by paul	Apr 2, 2008 10:10 AM
Unless the two officers are taken off the job for 1 week without pay, please don't print frustrating stories like this. A boken tail light !!! How about these two offices picking yup trash for a week, then maybe they will see the drug pushers ou

by Brian	Apr 2, 2008 10:09 AM
Boo hoo...Fairly certain its not a good idea to disregard the directions of a police officer on a traffic.

by Mike	Apr 2, 2008 10:08 AM
"48 hours of community service picking up trash".The police should catch the people throwing trash & the courts should make them pick it up.If they have time to enforce broken tail lights,they have time to catch those littering.Selectiv

by Rick	Apr 2, 2008 10:07 AM
Is it really necessary to say she is in Playboy, etc? The cops didn't pull her over for that reason. She should be treated like any ordinary citizen. This would not be newsworthy if she was being treated like a regular person.