Aaron Donald accuser walks back assault claim after exonerating video emerges
The man who accused Aaron Donald of assaulting him in Pittsburgh last weekend has admitted an error after the emergence of a video appearing to show the Los Angeles Rams star trying to break up the altercation in question.
Todd Hollis, the attorney representing DeVincent Spriggs, told Andy Sheehan of Pittsburgh's KDKA that his client mistook his attacker for Donald and is offering an apology.
BREAKING: The attorney for DeVincent Spriggs tells @KDKA his client mistook his attacker for football star Aaron Donald. The attorney, Todd Hollis, is offering Donald an apology. pic.twitter.com/NQB19UA3e5
— Andy Sheehan (@AndySheehankdka) April 17, 2021
News of Spriggs' allegation broke on Wednesday, with Hollis filing a criminal assault complaint with Pittsburgh police In the complaint, Spriggs alleged that Donald and his friends attacked him when the pair were asked to leave a club following a confrontation that began with Spriggs bumping into Donald.
Hollis said the attack left Spriggs with several serious injuries, including a concussion, a broken nose and eye socket and a cut near his right eye that required 16 stitches.
Two days later, surveillance video of the alleged attack emerged. It appeared to show Donald attempting to push away a group of people who were kicking Spriggs before his own friends pulled him away. Donald's attorney Casey White told Yahoo Sports that his client was coming to the man's rescue despite Spriggs allegedly swinging a liquor bottle at him.
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Surveillance video appears to show #NFL star Aaron Donald run over and try to break up assault. I just talked to Donald’s lawyer who says his client came to the rescue. #WPXI pic.twitter.com/0sXKjrMJs9
— Cara Sapida (@WPXICara) April 16, 2021
While an attack on Spriggs obviously occurred, White said the attackers were people protecting Donald:
“There’s no dispute that Mr. Spriggs is injured, but the other people who were there that night were responsible for protecting Mr. Donald and in turn caused the injuries to Mr. Spriggs,” White said. “He does get punched. He does get slammed. He does get kicked in the head. It’s violent, but the whole time Aaron is being restrained.”
A Pittsburgh police public information officer told Yahoo Sports earlier on Friday that the department is reviewing video of the attack and described the investigation as "ongoing," but you'd imagine Spriggs' retraction could change that.
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