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New Orleans police have obtained a warrant for the arrest of Cleveland Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., in response to alleged inappropriate contact he made with a security guard in the LSU locker room after the Tigers won the college football national championship on Monday, according to New Orleans station WDSU.
Authorities say a judge signed a simple battery warrant Thursday morning and an official statement from the NOPD confirmed that the misdemeanor warrant was issued “in regards to an incident that occurred on January 13, 2020 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.”
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Beckham is a former player for LSU and a native of New Orleans. The charges came after a video showing him appearing to touch the rear end of the security guard went viral.
TMZ reports that Beckham, 27, playfully smacked the employee’s behind while celebrating LSU’s 42-25 win over Clemson. Several outlets are reporting that prior to that moment security officers had requested that the players stop smoking celebratory cigars inside the locker room.
Thursday, the official Twitter account for the Cleveland Browns sent out a tweet stating the organization had reached out to Beckham and his representatives who were all “cooperating with property authorities to appropriately address this situation.”
A video also captured Beckham passing out money to several LSU players immediately after Monday’s victory.
ESPN reports that Wednesday the university’s athletic department issued a statement confirming they’d been made aware of the video.
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“We are aware of the situation regarding Odell Beckham Jr. interacting with LSU student-athletes and others unaffiliated with the team following the championship game Monday night,” the LSU statement said. “Initial information suggested bills that were exchanged were novelty bills.”
An LSU spokesperson initially said they believed the money being handed out on the field was play money. However, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow said the cash was real. If Burrow is right, it would be a violation of NCAA bylaws because cash is considered to be an example of impermissible benefits prohibited by the governing body.
School officials now say they have been in contact with the NCAA and the Southeastern Conference regarding the matter.