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WWE Hall of Famer Tammy "Sunny" Sytch was arrested yesterday in New Jersey and is currently incarcerated in Monmouth County Corrections in Freehold, New Jersey. PWInsider.com is waiting for further details on the arrest.
At the time same, PWInsider.com has learned that a bench warrant was issued for Sytch in the State of Pennsylvania on 2/15. That same day, the Carbon County Probation Department filed a motion to revoke Sytch's October 2018 parole. Court records indicate that Sytch made payments of $120 in the months of October and November 2018 as part of a payment plan to reimburse the State of Pennsylvania for their costs in her legal cases but has not made any additional payments since that time.
Sytch was extradited back to Carbon County in March 2018 from the same Monmouth County Correctional Facility she is currently jailed in. Sytch had been arrested in New Jersey last year for failing to appear in court for two DUI arrests. While Sytch was being processed for multiple charges of Contempt - Disobedience/resistance in New Jersey, authorities learned that she was technically a fugitive from justice because a motion had been filed in August 2017 in PA requesting her February 2017 parole from the Carbon County in Pennsylvania be revoked. A bench warrant for Sytch's arrest was issued to bring her in for a hearing over the issue, but since Sytch was not living in PA at the time, she could not be located to be served or taken into custody. New Jersey authorities held her until PA authorities were able to come and extradite her. It was never clear whether Sytch's legal issues in New Jersey have been resolved.
Sytch's original Pennsylvania DUI charges in 2015 were a result of three separate incidents over that summer.
On 5/30/15, Sytch was stopped by Mahoning Township, PA police after being seen driving erratically into a Wal-Mart parking lot. Testing showed she had a 0.25 percent Blood-Alcohol level at the time of her arrest.
On 6/1/15, Sytch was pulled over after her car crossed the solid center yellow line several times, then entered oncoming traffic on Interchange Road in Lehighton, PA. Sytch was unable to provide proof of insurance or a driver’s license and was identified only after authorities checked records. Trooper Jonathan Lazarchick of the Pennsylvania State Police reported that her eyes were bloodshot and glassy and that Sytch smelled like alcohol. Authorities discovered an open bottle of Coors Light in the passenger side of the vehicle as well as another eleven unopened. The open cap of the Coors Light was on the floor of her passenger's side. Sytch claimed she had been drinking the night before, was driving to pick up milk and eggs and when asked to get out of the vehicle, staggered, had problems with her balance and needed to lean on her car to maintain her balance. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.3 percent.
On 6/20/15, Sytch crashed her car into a ditch in Towamensing Township at 10:40 PM, claiming to the responding authorities that her GPS had told her to make a "sudden turn", which caused her to turn wide and end up in the ditch. Sytch told authorities that she was unable to back the car back out. Cpl. Shawn Noonan of the Pennsylvania State Police observed the odor of alcohol and bloodshot eyes. He requested Sytch take a field sobriety test, but she claimed to be "in too much pain due to her recently blacking out and falling down the steps." She was placed under arrest for DUI and was given a breathalyzer test back at police barracks. The results of that test were 0.078 percent.
Sytch would later claim on social media, in response to PWInsider.com's reporting of the case, that she was not arrested for DUI when she crashed her car because she had a "seizure."
Sytch plead guilty to DUI in all three cases as well as one count of driving without a license. The court dismissed the lesser charges in each case as part of her guilty plea.
Sytch stated in a July 2016 interview with Bill Apter that she agreed to the guilty plea because she was "blackout drunk" during what she termed the worse relapse of her life. Sytch told Apter she legitimately could not remember anything from the arrests. Since she could not testify in court about what happened and knowing the police had video footage of her in her inebriated state, Sytch stated a decision was made to plead guilty as part of an agreement. In the interview with Apter, Sytch had praised Judge Joseph T. Matika for being so lenient with her and allowing her to do the time in rehab as opposed to potential jail time.
On 8/18/16, Judge Matika sentenced Sytch to 97 days in prison, only to then give her credit for 95 days in rehab. The final 60 days were paid for by World Wrestling Entertainment, which had reversed a previous stance that cut her off from assistance via their Wellness Policy after Sytch criticized the previous rehabs WWE had chosen to send her in a DVD interview. Sytch was also given two days' credit for two days spent in jail.
At the time, Sytch was also sentenced to five years of probation with a required bi-weekly alcohol testing as well as 125 hours of community service and fines of $2,100. She was released without spending a day in prison but was warned by Judge Matika that if she got into trouble at any point during her five-year probation, there would be consequences.
Just 18 days into those five years, Sytch was arrested in Northampton County, PA. In that case, Sytch plead guilty to driving without a license, driving an unregistered vehicle, operating a vehicle without required financial responsibility (no insurance), displaying plate card in improper vehicle (license plates placed on a car to which they didn't belong), operating a vehicle without valid inspection, and driving without Evidence of an Emission Inspection, which is required in State of PA). Sytch was also fined $1,496.45 as part of an agreement that saw Prosecutors drop the most severe charge against her, receiving stolen property. Prosecutors also opted to drop a charge of fraudulent use or removal of registered licensed plates.
On 9/12/16, Sytch was rushed from her home in Palmerton, PA to Palmerton Hospital. That day, she was charged with possession of alcohol as well as being under the influence of alcohol - both of which violated the zero tolerance of her probation.
On her Facebook page at the time, Sytch referred to her hospitalization as being related to her pancreas. In Sytch's autobiography A Star Shattered, which had been released earlier in 2016, Sytch wrote that past health issues involving pancreatitis were brought on by her heavy drinking and had nearly led to her death in a previous incident. In the book, Sytch wrote that she had been warned by doctors that if she did not stop, it would lead to her death.
Sytch later wrote on social media that she had been released from the hospital on 9/20/16. Police sources in Palmerton, PA later confirmed to PWInsider.com that just three days later, 9/23/16, Sytch was brought back again to Palmerton Hospital after authorities were called to her home. Court records cite that on that date, Sytch was again charged with being under influence of alcohol, a third violation of the zero-tolerance policy of her probation. Shortly thereafter, Sytch was taken into custody (apparently from the hospital) and transported directly to the Carbon County Correctional Facility.
It was less than six weeks after her five-year probation began.
Sytch remained incarcerated for five months, becoming paroled in February 2017 after she agreed to once again attend a WWE-sponsored rehab. When Sytch was released, the court ordered her to directly report to an in-patient drug rehab in Hanover, PA, successfully complete the program as well as any after-care recommendations. Sytch was also ordered to report to the Carbon County Probation Office upon completion of the program and to perform an additional 75 hours of community service, which now added up to a total of 200 hours.
According to court records, Sytch was informed that she would have a "zero-tolerance" threshold for the possession, control and consumption of alcoholic beverages and/or non-prescribed medication and that she would have "zero-tolerance" for any missed urine screens without a legitimate excuse. Sytch was also warned that a failure to adhere to the Judge's order would result in a petition to revoke her parole.
It appeared to be the beginning of the end of this chapter of Sytch's life. It wasn't. Just a little over six months later, a petition was filed on 8/22/17 before the court requesting that Judge Matika revoke Sytch's parole. A bench warrant for Sytch's arrest was issued the following day, but until she was arrested in New Jersey, officials had been unable to serve the warrant and apprehend Sytch. Amazingly, Sytch had been making independent bookings and signing appearances all over the United States prior to her NJ incarceration back in February 2018, including a signing in Philadelphia, PA in January of that year.
Sytch's 2018 New Jersey arrests stemmed from incidents where she was charged with DUI on 1/23 at 8:53 PM and then charged with DUI and Leaving the Scene of an Accident following a 2/2 incident where Sytch had been in a car accident at 8:52 AM, alleging fleeing the scene of the accident.
Sytch has been through several personal and legal issues over the last decade, including a period in 2012 and 2013 where she was arrested arrested five times over the span of a month after, on three separaste occasions, she violated an order of protection taken out by a former boyfriend in Connecticut. Sytch was also charged with disorderly conduct, third degree burglary, and three counts of violating a protective order. In that case, Sytch served 114 days in jail before being released, at which point she moved to PA.
Sytch was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 and is considered the original "WWE Diva." She first broke into the business in Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the early 1990s before being signed to WWF as an announcer and later a manager. She left WWF in 1999 to work for the original ECW and had a run in World Championship Wrestling as well. At one point, Sytch was the hottest female talent in professional wrestling and was the most downloaded celebrity on AOL back in 1997.
After her parole last year, Sytch announced she would be embarking on a farewell tour on the independent wrestling scene, writing, "I'm pleased to announced that I am taking bookings for my "Comeback/Farewell Tour 2018-19"...I am taking bookings for personal appearances, autograph signings, wrestling shows and party appearances for what will by my FINAL 9-12 months of appearances before I call it a wrap! I am returning to school and leading life after next year as a 'normal' member of society with a private personal life. 28 years in this crazy business has been long enough!"
PWInsider.com will update as more information is confirmed.
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