Dr. Abdul Rao, who earns about $384,280.84 a year working for the University of South Florida as a Senior Associate Vice President, a Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs, and Director of the college’s School of Basic Biomedical Sciences, was caught on surveillance video stealing a bike.
Dr. Rao and his "semi-homelesss" buddy Victor Waiters drove up to a loading dock at the Johnnie B. Byrd Sr. Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute at about 8:43 PM this past Monday night in a minivan. The two hooligans then got out and scoped the scene, looking for an appropriate bike to steal. Victor hopped on one bike, took it for a little spin, and then put it back. After a little more browsing the "abandoned" bikes, Victor decided on a nice little mountain bike. The two drove off with the mountain bike in the van a few minutes later.
Dr. Rao, whose expertise is a key resource for the University of South Florida says that he thought that all of the bikes behind the JByrd Center were abandoned. "I have passed that place many times and the bikes have been sitting there, stagnant", says Dr. Rao.
Sure enough, the surveillance video shows a young woman riding up and abandoning the bike at about 1:45 the same day.
Dr. Rao also says that he didn't look at it as stealing a bike, but more like a brazen act of courage performed to help a guy out. Dr. Rao says that his buddy Victor is "just one of those guys who can't get off the poverty bubble".
The USF police force, which is the top rated parking enforcement outfit in the nation and makes about $500,000 a day in parking fines, is investigating the alleged crime. USF spokesperson Michael Hoad says that "the issue for us is the error in judgement".
Victor "semi-homeless guy" Waiters says that he is the criminal, not Dr. Rao. Victor says that he needed the bike to get a new ID card and get to County Line to do some work for "another family". Victor, aged 45, has a Miami address and has been arrested 29 times in the past 11 years.
When Dr. Rao was asked why he didn't just do the logical thing and buy a bike for $89.99 at Walmart to give to his buddy Victor, Rao replied "I am too busy working".
Here's the video:
"It's not that I am trying to hide my face and neither is he trying to do that"
-Dr. Abdul Rao, defending his brazen act of courage performed to help a guy get off the poverty bubble and reduce the number of "stagnant" bikes crowding the loading docks at the Johnny Byrd Institute.
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