Tony Perry Sr. has dealt with a lot of pain in his life.
He claimed his father struck him in the head when he was child, requiring a plate to be implanted.
He walks with a limp, and in fact, his whole left side aches or is numb. That’s one of the reasons he likes to race BMX bikes. He may lumber through life on his own two legs, but on two wheels, he’s quick and graceful.
And racing BMXs, while he allegedly stated he was too injured to work and misrepresented the cause of an injury, is what got Perry in trouble.
Facing prosecution from the state for fraud, the 52-year-old Port Orchard man pleaded guilty last month to two counts of third-degree theft for what the state Attorney General’s Office says was his theft of about $14,000 in disabled worker benefits.
“I didn’t want to be plead, I didn’t think I did anything wrong,” he said.
The $14,000 figure is how much he received in workers’ compensation checks from January 2012 to August 2013, according to the AG statement.
“I did everything they told me to do,” Perry said, calling the AG’s statement a “one-sided story.”
Perry said he was offered the deal, and he understands there are no guarantees when you go to trial, so he took it, but it still smarts.
“Now I’m a thief because I’m riding a bicycle,” he said, claiming that he kept his doctors informed of his hobby, and with their encouragement continued racing.
Perry said a doctor said it was good for his lungs, good for his legs, and Perry said it was good for his head as well. He also said he did not make statements to the state Department of Labor and Industries, claiming the information the department received came from his doctors. The same doctors, he said, told him exercise would do him good.
“I’m not Josh Klatman,” Perry said, referring to the BMX pro from Kitsap. “I just wanted to do it for recreation and for my health.”
Note: This story was modified Jan. 23, 2017. Perry was the sole source for the information contained in this story.
This comment was sent to me today. -AB
“My name is Patricia Jackson (Perry); I am Tony Perry’s step mother. I was married to Leo J. Perry for 32 years until he passed away in Sept 2010. When I met Leo, Tony was living in a group home in East Bremerton. His mom and step father Tom were living Silverdale and Leo was living alone at his residence in Bremerton. Tony was 15 ½ years old when he came to live with us in fall of 1978.
I want to make it very clear in the 33 years I was with Leo he never hit Tony or any of his other 4 children. After 30 years at PSNS Leo retired as a General Foremen he was honorable, loving, caring father and husband.”