Posted on: Friday, September 27, 2002
Former Teamster movie driver involved in 'Baywatch' altercation
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
A man awaiting sentencing in federal court for conspiring to burning movie trucks owned by his competitors was involved in a physical altercation Wednesday with an actor on the set of the "Baywatch" movie on the North Shore.
George Cambra, convicted two years ago on the conspiracy charges, delivered an "open-handed slap" to the head of actor Jeremy Jackson, 21, after Jackson spit on and shoved Cambra, according to Brook Hart, Cambra's lawyer. According to a witness on the set, Cambra also slapped a second man who is a friend of Jackson's. Police were not called and no charges were filed.
Cambra was asked to leave the premises and not to return to the set yesterday, the production's final day of shooting. Jackson, who plays star David Hasselhoff's son Hobie Buchannon, apologized yesterday to Cambra "for his rude and inappropriate behavior," Hart said.
"It's the kind of thing that no one would pay any attention to if George Cambra weren't involved," Hart said.
Jackson could not be reached for comment. Officials of the movie production, tiled "Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding," were unavailable for comment.
The incident is the latest in a series of problems that have added to the turmoil of movie drivers associated with the Teamsters, including a fight on the set of the recently released film "Blue Crush" and clashes between rival locals resulting in the drivers being transferred last week to their third different local within a decade.
"It's really unfortunate that something like this happened," said Donne Dawson, head of the state's film industry branch. "I know for a fact that the Hawai'i crew members did a great job in helping to bring the 'Baywatch' production in on time, working under a very ambitious and challenging schedule."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshal Silverberg, who prosecuted the arson case against Cambra and co-defendant Joseph "Joe Boy" Tavares, said yesterday he was attempting to learn details of what happened between Cambra and Jackson. Cambra is free on bail pending sentencing in January for the 1991 burning of movie trucks owned by local businessmen William Takaki and George Nottingham. Cambra was removed as a Teamsters Union member when he pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charges.
On the set of "Blue Crush," also filmed on the North Shore, one Teamster was arrested for assault and a group of others were fired from their work on the film because of continuing internal dissension among movie drivers. The fired Teamsters were later rehired.
The "Baywatch" incident occurred less than a week after the movie drivers were transferred Sept. 20 to yet another Teamsters unit, Local 681 of Honolulu, which represents Hawai'i cement quarry workers, according to Mel Kahele, one of two trustees now in charge of Local 681.
Improprieties alleged
The national Teamsters union removed Local 681 president Renee Rego from office earlier this year and placed the local in trusteeship after an internal investigation "found a lot of improprieties," Kahele said. He would not elaborate.
Rego could not be reached for comment. Her sister, Sheryl Dorsey, a secretary for Local 681, was fired by Kahele and has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board claiming that her termination was illegal. Dorsey would not comment yesterday, saying she wanted to first consult with her father, Renny Rego, who helped found Local 681 and ran it until retirement, when Renee Rego took control of the 300-member organization.
Kahele, who heads Teamsters union Local 996 here, said James Hoffa, head of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, ordered the Hawai'i movie drivers merged into Local 68, which occurred Sept. 20. Serving as co-trustee with Kahele of Local 681 and overseeing the movie drivers is Ronald Schwab, an international representative of the Teamsters, Kahele said.
In a meeting Sunday night with Hawai'i movie drivers, Schwab said he is overhauling hiring practices on Hawai'i-based movie and television shoots, returning to a strict seniority-based system, two drivers at the meeting told The Advertiser.
Dawson of the state's film industry branch said she believes "the changes are ultimately going to be very positive for the drivers and for the industry here."
Hawai'i drivers have complained that they were being denied jobs by members of Teamsters Local 399, based in Los Angeles and headed by Leo Reed, who was born in Kahuku and was a Honolulu police officer and professional football player before moving to the Mainland.
The Hawai'i drivers at one time were members of 399, but last year they were transferred at Reed's urging to another Southern California Teamsters unit, Local 63 in Rialto, Calif.
Reed told The Advertiser in March that there have been Teamster-related problems on movie and television production sets nationwide, but that Hawai'i's movie drivers have been particularly troublesome.
"I don't want to have nothing to do with Hawai'i (Teamsters) no more," Reed said. "There are some good drivers in Hawai'i. They're great Teamsters, and it's a shame they have to suffer ... because of a few individuals."
Sentencing delayed before
Though no longer a member of the Teamsters, Cambra has been working on the "Baywatch" production because his family company, George Cambra Movie Production Trucks Inc., is renting specialized equipment used on the show.
Cambra's sentencing in the arson case has been delayed numerous times, most recently Aug. 28, when he asked to be allowed to keep working so that he can continue paying restitution to the victims of his arson scheme.
Hart, his lawyer, asked U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor to put off sentencing because Hawai'i's television and movie production business is enjoying an upsurge, allowing Cambra to earn enough money to continue making payments to his victims.
Hart said there is no telling what condition the film industry might be like in Hawai'i "a year or two from now."
Gillmor granted the request but said Cambra is likely to be sentenced to 57 to 60 months in federal prison in January.
Hollywood productions are seen as a boon to the local economy, but there have been numerous instances of violence and intimidation in the industry over the years, many of them tied to Teamsters.
The worst was the 1994 murder of David Walden on the Honolulu waterfront.
Walden was an official of a Mainland firm supplying production vehicles to movie and television shows being shot in Hawai'i. Two men on a motorcycle shot Walden to death as he was waiting for a business appointment with three Teamster movie drivers. Law enforcement authorities here believe it was a contract killing related to Walden's film industry work.
Cambra and Tavares, his co-defendant in the arson case, were questioned by police and federal authorities investigating the Walden murder, but both men denied any involvement in the crime.
Two years ago, numerous local movie drivers were questioned by a federal grand jury about their knowledge of the Walden murder. The case is still open.
Hart said Cambra has paid about $100,000 in restitution in the arson case.
"He would like to get back in the Teamsters," Hart said. "George is a reformed man. He's trying his best to get on with his life and pay his restitution."
Reach Jim Dooley at 535-8447 or jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com.
