Jan 21 2008
Legendary Lawman Dies
Anyone who rode during the late sixties and early seventies along the east coast of Florida knew Sheriff William R. Heidtman. He was a former insurance salesman appointed sheriff of Palm Beach County by then Governor Claude Kirk. In those days most of Florida was still rural. The second land boom was just beginning and most of the towns along the coast were still sleepy little villages.
Palm Beach County was the center of some tumultuous times and Sheriff Heidtman was right in the center of it all. Never one to shun newsmen he was often in the headlines. His first brush with wide scale publicity was in February 1968. Members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club crucified a young girl and Sheriff Heidtman pursued them all the way to Michigan and brought them back to justice.
The Outlaws had actually nailed Christine Deese’s hands, palms inward, to the branch of a tree in Juno Beach as a punishment for withholding $10 from her “old man” in the gang. The holes are about 18 inches apart, each about 1/8 of an inch in diameter. They left her affixed to the limb, with her feet touching the ground, for nearly half an hour while they smoked, drank beer and taunted her. When the details of the nailing came out, they made headlines across the United States and in Europe. (Source)
Soon he would find himself in the headlines again. This time he was on a campaign to preserve the virginity of the young ladies of Palm Beach County.
. . . Rupp’s dream of a Woodstock-like three-day music festival along the Beeline Highway at Thanksgiving 1969 became the most notorious episode in the Heidtman saga.
Rupp sued to get a permit, then brought in the Stones, Joplin, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, Canned Heat, Sly and the Family Stone and Grand Funk Railroad to the 150-acre Palm Beach International Speedway, now Moroso Motorsports Park.
“Rupp wanted a three-day thing there. . . . These were all young kids. Parents expected their daughters to remain virgins awhile longer,” Mr. Heidtman said in a 2004 interview.
The sheriff said he would import red ants and infest the canals with alligators. Years later, he would say it was a joke to discourage attendance. (Source)
Sheriff Heidtman was truly one of a kind. I remember riding through Palm Beach County with fellow GIs on our way to Daytona Bike Week in 1972. Everyone knew about this tough lawman and we rode through the county observing all the laws. None of us wanted to cross the sheriff and his deputies. The sheriff died December 10, 2007 and with him passed a true legend.
I was a deputy under sheriff Heidtman, starting in 1974. We all knew about his reputation and about the incident with the girl being nailed to the tree. It was well known that any biker flying colors would be stopped traveling through our county, and from what I saw, they turned their jackets in-side-out for that portion of their trip.
We are all very proud to have been a part of his department (later called “office”).
Thanks for this article, which I found well written and without malice.
Gary