The Toronto Star ran a two-part story on a local politician this weekend, and not-so-surprisingly, there's a Broward connection.
The controversy surrounds Howard Shore, a town Councillor in Markham -- in the Toronto area -- who apparently stole Broward County Judge John "Jay" Hurley's cellphone in 2007, and ended up setting up an awkward meeting with former State House candidate Barbra Stern.
According to the Star's piece, Shore stole the phone while Hurley was working out at a gym near his office back when he was a private attorney.
Stern then started receiving "playful text messages" from Hurley's phone, before agreeing to meet him for drinks at a Fort Lauderdale Embassy Suites.
But as Stern waited in the hotel lobby for Hurley, who she refers to as Jay, she was approached by a stranger instead. The short, "dumpy" man asked if her name was Barbra.
"He proceeded to pretend like he was an old friend of Jay's," Stern recalled. "I said, you know, 'I don't know who the hell you are but get out of here.'"
Stern called Hurley's cellphone, leaving an irritated voicemail when he didn't pick up. Meanwhile, the man kept trying to approach her in the lobby. She then texted Hurley's phone asking what was going on and received several messages imploring her to come to the back of the hotel.
Stern eventually left, feeling unsettled.
"The next morning, I got a text,"she said. "(It said) 'We could have had fun last night.'"
Shore sent about 100 more text messages to Stern before she went to the cops, according to the Star. Shore eventually made it to Canada while he was out on bond.
Shore ended up returning to Florida the next year and getting arrested for missing court, and eventually pleaded no contest to two charges.
Two years after that, Shore ended up the Councillor for this Canadian town.
Shore has posted a message to his constituents and friends about the article on his website, apparently confirming the Star's report.
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