New Developments in Michael Vick's Pit Bull Fighting Saga

We've blogged a couple of times about Michael Vick possibly running afoul of the law due to the existence of an illegal pit bull fighting at a home he owns in Smithfield, Virginia (see "The Legal Process and Michael Vick" and "Michael Vick, Pit Bull Fighting, and the NFL's New Personal Conduct Policy"). There have been a couple of developments over the last few days:

1) Steve Wyche of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports today that the home was burglarized sometime between May 7 and May 18, with three plasma TVs and a leather sofa valued at $17,550 stolen. For some reason, the home's alarm was not working at the time. The county prosecutor, Gerald Poindexter, does not believe that the burglary had anything to do with the investigation. Along those lines, while someone who has seen one too many Sopranos episodes might wonder if the burglary was really an inside job to get evidence out of the home under the guise of a break-in, there is no evidence for that much more engaging, if completely quixotic, narrative.

2) Don Walker over on his Business of Sports Blog reports that Vick's association with dog fighting has already hurt his marketing power: discount airline AirTran, which is in a lengthy battle to take over Midwest Airlines, has dropped its relationship with him by not renewing its endorsement contract. It's not clear how much Vick earned from that deal, but he did get free airline tickets. Before the dog fighting story emerged, AirTran already had reason to question the value of its relationship with Vick, for as David Hirshman reports in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Vick was in line to board an AirTran flight in Miami in January when TSA agents found he had discarded a water bottle that contained a hidden compartment. Police said they smelled marijuana and found a "dark particulant" in the 20-ounce bottle. No charges were filed and Vick later said he often had jewelry stored in the hidden compartment.

The good news for Vick? Poindexter insists that no evidence has been presented that would lead him to charge Vick with any crime.

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