[UPDATE:Also missed this post from Martini Republic. They are as confused by all the MJD he said/he said stories as anyone else. But they note MJD's attorney may be commenting based on semantics (i.e. a warrant was issued for him, but he wasn't "arrested"]
Someone will need clear the story up because there are conflicting details coming out from all fronts. According to a Times-Union report from Jacksonville, MJD is getting suited by a UCLA students (yikes) Sabzi Soroush, 25 stemming from the incident at Deny's. Here is how the incident played out according to the attorney for Saroush:
Tuchman said his client was eating at a Denny's restaurant near the UCLA campus when Manning began taunting him "for being a geek'' because Soroush was using a laptop computer.
When Soroush complained to a manager, Tuchman alleges that his client was cornered in a restaurant bathroom, then forced outside and beaten unconscious in the parking lot.
Manning was arrested immediately, but Tuchman included Drew in the lawsuit after interviewing witnesses. Tuchman said three witnesses signed statements that identified Drew as punching Soroush in the face and stomping him in the head.
Soroush is seeing a neurologist and might require knee and shoulder surgery because of the beating, Tuchman said.
Those are ugly allegations. But right now everything is really murky. Someone in the LA DA's office is not playing it all right. Apparently Drew wasn't arrested as indicated in the reports last week and this was due to a mistake from the DA's office. From the report in the Times-Union:
When Soroush complained to a manager, Tuchman alleges that his client was cornered in a restaurant bathroom, then forced outside and beaten unconscious in the parking lot.
Manning was arrested immediately, but Tuchman included Drew in the lawsuit after interviewing witnesses. Tuchman said three witnesses signed statements that identified Drew as punching Soroush in the face and stomping him in the head.
Soroush is seeing a neurologist and might require knee and shoulder surgery because of the beating, Tuchman said.
Although Drew turned himself in this week, the Los Angeles district attorney's office confirmed Friday that it mistakenly said in a news release Thursday that the Jaguars rookie was arrested and released on bail the morning of the incident.
District attorney's office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the release, which received widespread national publicity, was incorrectly written by a junior staff member.
"It was our mistake, and it will be corrected," Gibbons said. "Drew was never arrested, but there was a warrant out for him."
Here is the link to that warrant.District attorney's office spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the release, which received widespread national publicity, was incorrectly written by a junior staff member.
"It was our mistake, and it will be corrected," Gibbons said. "Drew was never arrested, but there was a warrant out for him."
However this mistake was inexcusable. And whoever that "junior staff member" was, needs to pay.
Also I still maintain that Dorrell and the UCLA PR department needs to get their shit together and battle this (direct or indirect) assault on the image of UCLA football in a very aggressive manner. There are just sitting around being passive right now (just like their football team on the field) doing nothing letting the news cycles take care of the story. That is not going to cut it. If these guys truly had any drive they'd be all over this story (and the story implicating Ward and Hale), managing it aggressively through carefully drafted short/direct quick press releases, sending strong signals UCLA as an institution will not tolerate any off field problems from its athletes. They would also at the same time project an unmistakable appearance that UCLA is concerned how facts are getting thrown around damaging the reputation of its student athletes (if they are indeed innocent of the charges). UCLA PR department and Dorrell need to be extremely aggressive in dealing with these stories. And so far they have completely drop the ball making UCLA look bad (unfairly or not) in the process. But that has been the par for the course for Karl Dorrell?s mediocre football program.
GO BRUINS.