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Big Daddy, owner get a break
By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer Former NBA center Matt Geiger and Big Daddy, his wandering pet bison, both recently received good news. For Geiger, prosecutors have dropped a misdemeanor charge that he mishandled his 2,000-pound pet, allowing the bison to make a highly publicized, three-day escape. Meanwhile, Big Daddy is poised to regain its alpha male status in the herd. Prosecutors dropped the charge Monday, two weeks before Geiger was scheduled to go to trial. In court filings, Geiger's attorney, Robert Eckard of Palm Harbor, argued that after the bison's escape, Geiger was cited with violating a state administrative code section that lacks a criminal penalty provision. Besides that, Eckard said, charging Geiger with criminal mishandling of the animal was wrong. Big Daddy is one of seven formerly sickly bisons Geiger rescued from a person who was not properly taking care of them. Under Geiger's care, the herd has flourished to a dozen. Big Daddy's escape was an accident and did not merit a criminal charge, especially since Geiger is an animal lover who gives his animals "the best care, the best veterinary treatment and the best feed," Eckard said. That's why Geiger decided to fight the charge. "An accident is different than acting with criminal intent," Eckard said. The prosecutor handling the case could not be reached for comment Thursday. In March, Geiger, 32, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of not having a valid state game farm license at the time of the escape. He was fined $225. A former Countryside High star athlete, the 7-foot-tall Geiger retired last year after playing professional basketball for 10 seasons. His estate in East Lake has almost 40 animals, including long-horned cattle, a donkey named Mr. T, a miniature horse named Cherokee and a cow named Herman. Experts have reasoned that Big Daddy fled Geiger's 75-acre fenced pasture in East Lake after being dethroned by an aggressive younger stud in February. After months of being separated from the group, Big Daddy will rejoin the herd this weekend, Eckard said. To ensure Big Daddy's triumphant return to the top spot, all of the males in the herd have been castrated. "Big Daddy is maintaining his status quo as far as servicing the female buffalo," Eckard said. -- Ed Quioco can be reached at (727) 445-4183 or quioco@sptimes.com.
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