Page 118 - Just Deserts

The Sirocco Lites 26K Run for the Money

received by the Times and other print and broadcast media
suggesting that Holden had been bribed by Sirocco through La
Manza in order to gain approval of the tobacco giant’s takeover of
the annual race. Despite vehement denials by La Manza and Holden,
subsequent investigation did reveal that a questionable bank
transaction had taken place between the two men. A news blackout
has been imposed on this aspect of the story pending action by the
Isla View district attorney’s office.
One day after the corruption charges became widely known, other
elements of La Manza’s and Holden’s stories came into question.
Sirocco denied any knowledge of a deal involving La Manza and Isla
View. Their spokesman also said the company had no record of
anyone named Boyd Brainard. The Times has searched directories in
all the major American cities, with the same negative result. At the
same time, several disabled participants in the marathon came
forward to repudiate Holden’s assertions. Our correspondent was
unable to establish the existence of either the North Coast Racing
Vets or Kevin Caltrop. When confronted at Kennedy Airport by
reporters on his return to New York, La Manza uncharacteristically
had little to say, deferring to the attorney who had accompanied him
from San Francisco. Holden’s office would not return phone calls.
The dispute might have remained on a local level, were it not for
the entry of several veterans groups into the fray. According to
Thomas Sandstrom, director of the Boston chapter of Disabled Vets,
Inc., they had been vaguely aware of the Isla View scandal when they
received a call from a man refusing to identify himself. The caller
pointed out that Sirocco Lites are manufactured by a company
owned by Polygon Industries, a multinational conglomerate, and that
Polygon also owns Tripwire Technologies, producer of land mines
and anti-personnel weapons sold to other countries as well as the
United States. The anonymous tipster then incited the Boston group
by saying it was outrageous that a company responsible for many of
the wounds inflicted on the wheelchair racers was trying to co-opt
their marathon and exploit their disability for commercial purposes.
Similar calls were reported around the country at veterans group
headquarters. Within a few hours caravans were organized and
several thousand people began converging on the Polygon building in
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