Goodwill auctioning off donated Petrino items

Mercedes Moseley, an employee at the Goodwill store in Springdale, examines golf clubs that had belonged to Bobby Petrino.
Mercedes Moseley, an employee at the Goodwill store in Springdale, examines golf clubs that had belonged to Bobby Petrino.

— Since being fired as head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks football team on April 10, Bobby Petrino has sold his lake house and taken his mansion off the market.

Whether Petrino’s six-bedroom, 8,741-square-foot house at 4518 E. Bridgewater Lane in Fayetteville is under contract to be sold couldn’t be determined Tuesday. Real-estate agents at Lindsey & Associates in Fayetteville didn’t return calls and e-mails seeking comment.

Petrino had been asking $2.5 million for the house that he bought in 2008 for $2.25 million. It had an appraised value of $1.63 million in 2010, according to the Washington County assessor’s office.

In any event, it appears that Petrino is cleaning out the garage.

Last week, he donated 31 golf clubs to the Goodwill store in Springdale, along with two golf-club bags that have his name prominently displayed. They are being sold at auction and can be viewed at Goodwillar.org. Bidding, which started Monday, will end at noon June 16.

The 2007 Harley-Davidson motorcycle Petrino wrecked April 1 in rural Madison County is still sitting on the lot at Copart in Prairie Grove, but it’s not currently for sale. Copart, which has locations nationwide, sells everything from forklifts to stolen vehicles that have been recovered, often for insurance companies.

Petrino’s Harley, a Road King, was previously for sale through Copart’s online auction site, with an ending date of May 30. With 1,032 miles on it, the motorcycle was valued at $16,000 but needed about $18,841 worth of work to repair the front end, according to the previous auction information. The vehicle identification number of the motorcycle on the Copart lot matches the one on an Arkansas State Police report for Petrino’s motorcycle that was involved in the wreck.

That wreck, and the subsequent police report, unraveled Petrino’s reign as head football coach. The report revealed that Petrino, 51, had a passenger on the bike, Jessica Dorrell, 25, of Elkins, when it ran off Arkansas 16 near Elkins and pitched Petrino into a brush pile.

After the report came out, Petrino admitted that he had a extramarital affair with Dorrell, whom he hired to work in the University of Arkansas athletic department. Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long fired Petrino, saying the hiring of Dorrell was a conflict of interest and that Petrino hadn’t been honest with him in the days after the accident.

Sammi Coney, general manager of the Copart location in Prairie Grove, won’t say what happened in the original auction for Petrino’s Harley, and she doesn’t know if the bike will be up for sale again.

The motorcycle has “Hawg Wild” and a tusk-bearing Razorback painted on the gas tank. On Tuesday, it still had dirt from the wreck lodged between the headlight glass and metal frame. The left blinker light is broken and the front fender is dented badly on both sides. The employees of Copart allowed a reporter to look at the motorcycle only after he signed up as a potential bidder online, and they didn’t allow photographs to be taken.

Petrino’s house on Beaver Lake sold May 15, according to the Benton County assessor’s office. The 2,532-square-foot house, which was owned by Petrino and his wife, Rebecca, sold to Duncan and Cynthia MacNaughton of Rogers for $600,000, according to arcountydata.com. The Petrinos bought the house for $600,000 in 2008, according to property records.

The golf clubs are being sold in two groups. One group includes 21 clubs of various brands (including three 8 irons and three 6 irons) in a new Titleist bag that has the words “Arkansas Razorbacks” on it, in addition to Petrino’s name. The other group appears to be a full set of 10 mostly TaylorMade clubs in a Powerbilt bag. Bidding started at $150 for each group. By midday Tuesday, bidding was up to $325 for the Titleist bag and clubs, according to a store employee. The other set was going for $200.

Petrino also donated a large, black Atlanta Falcons jacket from his stint as head coach of the NFL team. Bidding started at $15 for the jacket, which has Petrino’s name in the collar. Bidding for that item was at $20 on Tuesday.

Petrino also donated a set of luggage that the Goodwill store sold over the weekend.

Rosemary Barry, manager of the Springdale Goodwill store, said Petrino donated the items last week. Other things he donated will be up for auction later, she said. The store’s auctions normally last two weeks.

The store had about 50 calls about the golf clubs Monday, Barry said.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/06/2012

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