ARMED, INFAMOUS AND DANGEROUS

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Give someone some authority who's never had any and watch it go to his head. Erik Estrada, 57 years old and paunchy, lost his cool during the filming of a domestic disturbance arrest for CBS TV's forthcoming "reality" series, ARMED AND FAMOUS. Estrada, a star in the 70's cop show ChiPs, got into an obscenity-filled shouting match with Randall Sims, 53, of Muncie, Indiana.

Sims was arrested and cuffed after suffering a stab wound in the leg during a domestic dispute. After Sims was placed in an ambulance, Estrada was asked to enter the ambulance and remove the handcuffs. While in the amublance, Estrada took offense when Sims mistakingly called him Emilio Estevez. Estevez, who has no connection to the CBS show, is another actor and the son of actor Martin Sheen.

It seems that while both were in the ambulance, Sims made some reference to his successful attempt in getting a Muncie street renamed after Martin Luther King and, while addressing Estrada as Estevez, told him he knew nothing about Dr. King. Sims also said he did not want to be shown on television and complained that Estrada had only been in Muncie for "two days." Estrada became enraged and an obscenity-filled shouting match erupted between the two antagonists. Estrada shouted that he had been in Muncie for six weeks and that he grew up in Spanish Harlem, a Manhattan neighborhood mentioned by King in one of his speeches.

Later, Muncie Police Chief Joe Winkle counseled Estrada about his behavior. Winkle told Estrada that cops encounter antagonism all the time and that a professional officer is expected to disregard any untoward remarks directed his way.

What's next on this farcical "reality" show? If a drunk starts yapping at La Toya Jackson, is she going to whip out her breast, a la the 2005 Super Bowl, and smack him in the mouth with it? Is "Wee Man" going to get pissed off during an encounter and stand up to bite some guy in the balls? One thing is certain - CBS will never air Estrada's dangerous foul mouthed tirade on its show.