Video: Encounter With Julie Irwin | Belden Meets 3 Other Women
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By VALERIE KALFRIN
The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA - Undeterred about being chastised for resting his head on a woman’s breast, Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden got cozy with three other women at Jackson’s Bistro one night in October.

A restaurant videotape released Monday shows Belden elbowing himself into a group of three women at the Harbour Island bar on Oct. 12.

He touched one on the buttocks roughly six minutes after being shooed away from a woman who later filed a battery complaint against him.

Tampa police released the tape Monday after the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office, reviewing the case at Gov. Jeb Bush’s request, declined to file misdemeanor battery charges against Belden regarding his behavior.

Julie Irwin, 38, told police Belden touched her breast that night while petting her dog in her lap.

She formally dropped her battery complaint Nov. 2, saying she was satisfied Belden had publicly apologized to her at a news conference.

“She was quite adamant she did not wish to go forward,” Pinellas-Pasco Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said Monday. “Given the circumstances and her feelings on the subject, we didn’t feel the further need to expend taxpayer dollars.”

After denying the incident took place until confronted with news of the videotape, Belden, 52, issued a public apology.

He said he has a drinking problem, which affected his judgment that night, and promised to seek professional help. He could not be reached Monday.

Preston Trigg, Belden’s director of administration, referred all questions to Belden’s attorney, Norman Cannella.

Cannella said the case is closed. “I don’t see any virtue, benefit, help, in continuing to stir this pot,” he said.

The tape bolsters Irwin’s claims but also includes Belden’s encounter with three unidentified women.

According to a police report, that night Belden “was drinking to the point he had to be cut off. This did not stop his drinking as he had members of his group buy him drinks.”

The tape has no sound. It shows Irwin arriving with her dog in a shoulder bag about 8:40 p.m. and sitting in the center of the outdoor bar.

A man police identified as her boyfriend joins her about 20 minutes later with another man. The men leave about 9:20 p.m. Irwin remains, reviewing paperwork with the dog in her lap.

About 9:30 p.m., Belden sits next to her. He first kisses and pets her dog, then puts his head on her right shoulder and breast while petting her dog, the tape shows.

A man police identified as Trigg approaches Belden and coaxes him away as the bartender also says something to Belden. Before leaving Irwin alone, Belden places his head against Irwin’s chest again and pets the dog, then kisses her cheek, the tape shows.

The whole encounter lasts about four minutes.

About 9:40 p.m., Belden approaches three women sitting at the bar.

He puts his arms around two of the women and squeezes between them, forcing one to share a seat with him as he places his elbows on the bar, the tape shows.

A man approaches and speaks to Belden and the women. As the woman sharing Belden’s seat slides over to an empty stool, Belden’s hand slides down her back toward her buttocks, the tape shows.

Over the next eight minutes, Belden touches the same woman’s wrist, puts his hand on her leg, and touches her shoulder, back, neck, hair and cheek, the tape shows. He also grasps the hand of one of her friends and caresses the cheek of her other friend.

The man who intervened earlier reappears and forces Belden away.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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