D.R. Jackson is one of those fans whose enthusiasm in the stands
is contagious ““ the sort of gridiron aficionado who comes to
every game with a one-gallon thermos full of herbal tea and still
inevitably loses his voice by the end of the first quarter.
So, when the UCLA football season-ticket holder was arrested at
the Rose Bowl prior to the Bruins’ victory over Colorado
State on Sept. 7 and charged with selling a ticket without a
permit, he reacted as any diehard fan would have in his place.
“I was thinking let’s get this over with,”
said Jackson. “I have a game to go to.”
Now with a pre-trial set for Jan. 27 and a potential jail term
looming in the distance, the 48-year-old computer repairs
specialist is fully aware of the severity of the charges.
“It’s like a bad dream,” Jackson said.
“It is a misdemeanor offense, and it is definitely possible I
could go to jail. This is actually happening to me, and it’s
serious.”
Jackson’s arrest coincides with the Pasadena Police
Department’s decision to place a greater emphasis on stopping
ticket scalpers. The department currently deploys a band of
undercover cops at each UCLA football game in an attempt to crack
down on professional scalpers.
“The police have a crew that is trained to catch these
people,” said Kim Resendiz, deputy prosecutor for the City of
Pasadena. “We are focusing on people who are scalping tickets
for a living.”
Nonetheless, while the police intend for their covert operation
to discourage professional scalpers from working the Rose Bowl,
UCLA season-ticket holders like Jackson seem to be the ones hurt
the most.
Resendiz estimates the police arrest eight ticket scalpers
before each UCLA football game, but some of those are just Bruin
fans, many of who have never scalped a ticket before in their
lives.
A resident of Acton, Calif., Jackson definitely falls into that
category. He has made the 50-mile drive to Pasadena for virtually
every UCLA home game in the past three years and brought his family
and several members of the YMCA basketball team that he coaches to
the Colorado State game.
After his family and friends entered the stadium, Jackson headed
toward Gate D to collect a set of free giveaway pins for his
children, when a woman approached him and asked if he had any extra
tickets.
“She was acting fidgety when she asked me how much I
wanted for the ticket,” said Jackson, who had a spare ticket
since one of his son’s friends had cancelled at the last
moment. “I thought she was going to take off with it and run.
If she needed a ticket and didn’t have any money, I would
have given it to her.”
Jackson was unaware of the UCLA policy that, as stated on the
back of each football ticket stub, prohibits any attempt at resale
regardless of the price, and he paid dearly for it.
The woman was actually one of the undercover officers from the
Pasadena Police Department, and she and her partner arrested a
bewildered Jackson and led him to the police headquarters at the
Rose Bowl between Gate B and C.
“It was the most humiliating thing I have ever been
through,” Jackson said. “They pulled my pockets inside
out, and questioned me. I just kept wondering what I was doing
there.”
The police detained him until after halftime, took away both his
tickets, and confiscated the $194 that he had in his pocket. An
irate Jackson went back to the car to get more money, and then
bought a $12.50 ticket in order to get into the stadium.
“I was almost at the point of tears,” Jackson said.
“My wife was looking for me. My kids were asking where I was.
There was nothing I could do. I was so mad I could barely
talk.”
What infuriates Jackson even more is that he believes the police
officers targeted him because he fit the typical profile of a
scalper.
“They approached me not only because I am black, but also
because of how I was dressed,” said Jackson who was wearing a
UCLA jacket over a hooded sweatshirt, nylon pants and a backwards
hat on the night of the game. “It’s really not fair.
Now I can’t help but worry about how I look going to a
game.”
Resendiz resolutely denies that the Pasadena police employ any
sort of racial profiling techniques in their attempts to catch
ticket scalpers.
Nonetheless, Jackson is considering filing suit against the
Pasadena Police Department and hopes that the Rose Bowl will erect
signs in front of the stadium warning season-ticket holders not to
sell their tickets on stadium property. He pleaded not guilty at
his arraignment on Oct. 9, but the case will likely go to trial
unless all charges are dropped.
“The maximum penalty he could face is six months at a
county jail,” Resendiz said. “If he’s convicted,
he will likely be placed on probation for 12-24 months and
forbidden from going to the Rose Bowl.”
No matter what happens to Jackson from a legal standpoint, his
devotion to the sport of football has been permanently sullied.
“I have lost so much of my passion for college
football,” Jackson said, wearily. “Before this
happened, I usually couldn’t talk the Sunday morning after a
game. There is nothing anyone can do to make me feel the way I did
before.”