Aaron Donald accuser apologizes after video disproves assault claims
"His client mistook his attacker for football star Aaron Donald"
The man who accused NFL player Aaron Donald of severely assaulting him retracted his claims after a new video revealed that the athlete was breaking up the confrontation which occurred last weekend.
The Los Angeles Rams star was seen in surveillance video running over to break up the fight which happened outside of an after-hours club in Pittsburgh last Sunday. The fight involved De’Vincent Spriggs, the man who accused Donald of assaulting him. Donald appeared to pull Spriggs away from a group of people who were kicking him before Spriggs’ friends intervened.
Spriggs, who suffered a concussion, broken nose and eye socket, and cut near his right eye which required 16 stitches, retracted his claims in the wake of the video release. According to ESPN, Todd Hollis, the attorney representing Spriggs, is offering an apology to Donald. The apology comes the same day that Casey White, Donald’s attorney, refuted the claims.
“He goes to the pile where this melee is taking place and he starts tearing people off, protecting Mr. Spriggs. He actually saves Mr. Spriggs from further injury,” White said.
Read More: Mom of Daunte Wright’s child speaks out: ‘I’m just really hurt for my son’
Investigative reporter Andy Sheehan announced on Twitter that Hollis confirmed to KDKA-CBSN that “his client mistook his attacker for football star Aaron Donald” and “is offering Donald an apology.”
Spriggs filed a criminal complaint against Donald with Pittsburgh police two days after the confrontation. White confirmed to Yahoo! News that around 3 a.m. on Sunday, Spriggs bumped into Donald and began yelling about being escorted out of the building. White then says Spriggs tried to swing a liquor bottle at Donald that grazed the top of his head as he ducked.
“Mr. Spriggs starts walking toward Aaron and he’s yelling, he’s drunk and he’s aggressive,” White told the outlet. “Aaron sees something in his right hand. At first, he thinks it’s a gun. And Aaron, at this point, is like, ‘Oh my.’ But it’s actually a bottle — a long liquor bottle.”
As people came to Donald’s aid and began attacking Spriggs, Donald was seen being pulled away before returning to pull people away.
Read More: A public memorial for DMX to take place at Barclays Center
“Aaron actually runs over to [Spriggs’] aid and starts pulling people off of this guy,” White said. “He’s trying to get these kids off Spriggs. He gets at least two or three people off of Spriggs, and at that point in time, somebody grabs Aaron and says, ‘This is not a good situation, let’s get the heck out of here.'”
White confirmed with ESPN on Friday that he obtained at least five witness accounts from last Sunday and more continue to come forward to provide statements.
The Rams previously released a statement confirming that they were aware of the reports, saying, “We are collecting more information and will have no further comment at this time.”
Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
