Carol Shaya made the cover of Playboy in August of '94, back when we still drooled over the magazine... back before we signed up for America Online and found an internet full of nudity. For about two weeks that summer, Shaya was our teenage crush-- back then we still fell in love with the women we lusted after, instead of keeping them (sadly) separate.
We remember reading with little surprise-- even in those days-- that the NYPD had fired her for appearing in the magazine, which apparently made her realize it hadn't been worth it.
Shaya hasn't really been heard from since. As far as anyone knew, she had gone into some small town modeling or a security job in Butte and simply vanished. Then TMZ found her yesterday in Los Angeles and new and interesting details about her life emerged very quickly:
Shaya is a lesbian. Which is not news, of course, but this is: she was attacked and nearly strangled by her ex-girlfriend, whom she had just broken up with. The ex-po-lice claims Jessica Phillips grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the refrigerator in an incident in March. Shaya also says Phillips assaulted her mom and practically tossed the poor woman out of their shared California home to prevent her from staying with the couple. Either this is the worst mother-in-law ever or Phillips is-- no, clearly Phillips is just from Crazyland.
Unfortunately, all this forced Shaya to return to the spotlight. As soon as her name popped up in court papers, the tabloids were all over the still-young woman. We've decided not to show you her nude photos either... although they can be Googled if you're crafty. We wish her the peace she so clearly needs. From Wikipedia:
At first reports of the appearance, the New York City Police Department attempted to ignore the incident, but then gradually took escalating measures. In July 1994, Shaya was reassigned to a desk job at the Bronx Borough Command, not as a disciplinary action, but due to other female officers in her precinct complaining about verbal harassment from residents, who were asking about Officer Shaya's location and comparing them to her. On October 28, the NYPD filed departmental charges against Shaya, for unauthorized off-duty employment and improper use of her uniform and the Police Department logo. A police panel recommended a month's suspension, but the final decision was left to the New York City Police Commissioner. On March 7, 1995, Commissioner William J. Bratton dismissed Shaya, now using her married name Shaya-Castro, from the New York City police department. Bratton ruled that Shaya-Castro's appearance in Playboy violated the City Charter and the department's rules, so she was unfit to be a police officer. He also cited her record, which included only three arrests in four years.
Via TMZ.
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