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Hank Weldon
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Affiliation
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Retired Metro-Dade Vice Detective (1968-1979)
Partner with Marty Lang |
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Status
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Medical Discharge (1979)
Institutionalized/Incarcerated, murder of Tony Arcaro (1985) |
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Episode Appeared In
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Played By
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Henry "Hank" Weldon is a retired detective from the Metro-Dade Vice Division, worked as a cop from 1968-1979, received numerous commendations, and looked upon as an excellent cop. In 1976 Weldon began building a case against Tony Arcaro for drug trafficking. In 1979 Arcaro was arrested, but got off on an unspecified technicality, sending Weldon into a rage, as Arcaro was his sole focus for three years. He "quit" the force, then (according to his then-partner Marty Lang) went into medical leave, finally discharge, sent to an institution. During this time Weldon's wife, Lorraine, left him and changed her name to escape Hank. Weldon was subject to sudden personality changes from funny and light-hearted to angry in seconds, and extremely obsessed with Arcaro, who mysteriously disappeared after his release from custody.
In 1985 Vice detectives James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs were investigating "Skates" Santino, a minor dealer when Weldon made his return to OCB (after taking pictures of Crockett and Tubbs at the scene), dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, acting like he never left the building. Weldon told everyone he had information that Arcaro was still alive and that two of his former partners, Freddie Costanza and Ray Pinchada, have been handling all of Arcaro's business, and that Costanza was going to be hit at The Ocean Club by Pinchada (on orders from Arcaro). Crockett and Tubbs reluctantly investigate Weldon's claims and got the lowdown on Hank from his former partner Lang. Weldon lives in a bungalow with a computer named "Lorraine" containing data on Pinchada, Costanza, and Bernie Wingo, another drug dealer that disappeared after Arcaro did (stored on an 5 1/2" floppy disk).
After Costanza was killed at The Ocean Club by an unidentified hitman, Weldon is arrested by Crockett on suspicion of being part of the operation, but released by Castillo. Later, Weldon indicated he overheard Stilts O'Brien, a minor dealer, talking to his lawyer that he absolutely had to get out of jail so he could meet with Pinchada and Wingo at a Stiltsville location for a drug delivery. The Vice team raided Stiltsville, kill several goons, and arrest the survivors, but Weldon goes into a rage when Arcaro was not among the living or dead, destroys "Lorraine", and disappears. Weldon contacts Tubbs and lets him know Arcaro was being busted, and leads him and Crockett to an abandoned building, where Weldon reveals the truth...Arcaro was killed by Weldon shortly after the dealer's release from prison, and his partner, Lang, helped him build the wall that entombed Arcaro's body for six years.