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Harding's 911 call about break-in was false

Former Olympic skater's agent blames medication for call to police

Tonya Harding
Eric Cable / AP
Former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding called police because she feared people were trying to break into her house, an incident her agent blamed on medication changes.
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updated 7:12 p.m. ET March 18, 2007

VANCOUVER, Wash. - When an agitated Tonya Harding called police to say she feared people were trying break into her house, authorities found nothing to support the former Olympic figure skater’s account — an incident her agent blamed on medication changes.

Harding called authorities early Sunday from a towing company to report possibly four men and a woman were trying to enter her home outside Vancouver and stash weapons on her property, said Sgt. Tim Bieber, reading from a Clark County sheriff’s dispatch log that documents two calls regarding Harding.

The incident did not generate an official police report.

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“It says she was agitated, glancing everywhere. She seemed frustrated that people can’t see the people that she sees,” Bieber said.

Harding was taken to the home of a friend, who within hours placed another call to deputies saying she was “tweaking out, seeing things.”

Deputies responded, took Harding home and checked her house and property.

Longtime friend and agent Linda Lewis said the incident arose after medication prescribed to Harding did not interact correctly.

“Tonya had changed her over-the-counter allergy medication,” Lewis wrote in e-mails Wednesday to The Oregonian in Portland and The Columbian in Vancouver. “She then went to the doctor with pneumonia symptoms. She was prescribed antibiotics and cough syrup and given a breathing treatment. She has been very ill, and her breathing capacity was very low.”

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Lewis could not be reached for comment Thursday.

“I don’t know from the call whether she was hallucinating,” Bieber said. “There’s no indication in the log that she was on any medication.”

Linda Wilmot, a friend of Harding, told The Oregonian she placed the second call to deputies Sunday.

“I just want people to know the truth, that she was not on illegal drugs,” Wilmot said.

A telephone listing for Wilmot was not available Thursday.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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