June 21, 2003.
FAST BREAK?
MIAMI, Florida - Center court to criminal court: Jameka Jones, former guard for
the Miami Sol. Jones, 24, was a player in a female burglary ring, cops say.
Jones allegedly drove the getaway car in the Jan. 23 break-in of a $600,000 home
in Bal Harbour. She and three gal pals -- Waleeah ''Wa Wa'' Neloms, 20;
Tyquandra ''Ty'' Stephens, 19; and Nikitha La France, 18 -- are set for trial
Wednesday. They're facing 20 years.
Village police Chief Tom Hunker says it's a slam dunk -- three nabbed at the
scene, plus Stephens confessed.
The four cruised for a house to hit after they breezed through an open guard
gate in Bal Harbour and stopped at a house on Bal Bay Drive, detective Leo Quinn
says. Stephens, wearing gloves and toting a hammer, smashed a window, climbed
inside and opened the front door. By then, a security guard called police, and
Officer Kenny Klingman pulled up and questioned the trio. Stephens slipped out a
second-story sliding glass door -- and jumped from the balcony, Quinn says.
Blood at the crime scene matched Stephens' DNA profile, police say.
Stephens and Neloms are also charged in an armed burglary in Miami-Dade and in
Broward.
Neloms' lawyer, assistant public defender Joel Denaro, says she is a ''sweet
girl'' -- a passenger in a car, ''wrong place, wrong time.'' Neloms' adoptive
mother, Tara Johnson, 32, is a Miami-Dade corrections officer. Jones' lawyer,
David Edelstein, says she is a ''dedicated athlete'' who unwittingly gave the
other girls a ride. ``Hanging out with the wrong people.''
Jones played for the WNBA's Sol in 2000, the inaugural season, says Ron
Rothstein, 60, head coach/general manager of the defunct team. ``A real good
kid.''
The other defense lawyers could not be reached for comment. Prosecutor: Kelly
Eckley. Case is before Circuit Judge Henry Leyte-Vidal.