vashti1999
07-03-2006, 05:34 PM
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NBA Player Watching Porn Causes Crash
By Tracy Stokes, BET.com Staff Writer & Wire Reports
Posted July 3, 2006 – The same night that the Minnesota Timberwolves were showing off their 2006 draft picks, the team's current center, Eddie Griffin, was served Thursday with a civil suit accusing him of slamming his SUV into a parked car because he was drunk and watching porn.
In a video obtained by WCCO-TV in Minneapolis last week, 24-year-old Griffin can be heard pleading with witnesses, saying, "Any car in life you want, I got it for you man. I'll pay for it, I promise. Tomorrow, you'll have it tomorrow."
He was offering to buy a car for the man's SUV he smashed into in front of a Minneapolis grocery store.
"Whatever kind a car you want," Griffin said to the man. "You want a Hummer? You a ... not a Bentley."
It all went down March 30, just after 2 a.m., just a couple of miles from the Target Center where Griffin had just played in a game.
Griffin begged witnesses not to call police, admitting he was drunk, CBS News reported.
Several witnesses called 911. One witness even told a dispatcher that Griffin admitted watching porn in a DVD player that's mounted on the dashboard of his Cadillac Escalade, CBS News reported.
Abed Hassuneh, the brother of the victim, said the he rushed outside to see what happened after hearing the impact. Hassuneh said that Griffin even told him he "was masturbating himself going down the street. That's how the accident happened because he was not paying attention. He's paying attention to that video, and all of a sudden, he's shoveled somebody's car on the top of the sidewalk."
So what happened when police arrived? Nothing according to Hassuneh.
Griffin was not even tested for alcohol, according to the accident report, which also said the NBA player's condition was normal and that no alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident.
And according to Griffin, police drove him home, WCCO-TV reported.
Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan has ordered an internal affairs investigation of the conduct of the two officers who responded to the scene, who can be heard in the video telling witnesses in the store that Griffin would not be charged with driving while intoxicated.
"Obviously, if somebody is drunk and they are driving we want that dealt with by the police officers of Minneapolis," Dolan said.
"I feel insulted that my civil rights were ignored that night and were put on the side for a basketball player, Hassuneh said.
The suit seeks $50,000 in compensatory damages and could be amended to include punitive damages, said Mike Padden, attorney for plaintiffs Jamal Hassuneh and Lindsey Hassuneh.
Timberwolves spokesman Mike Cristaldi said team officials would not comment because they consider it a matter between Griffin and the plaintiffs, the Associated Press reported.
Griffin has a past history of both legal and behavioral problems.
He was New Jersey's first-round pick, seventh overall, in the 2001 draft after playing one season at Seton Hall, where he infamously punched a teammate. His rights were traded to the Houston Rockets, where he played two seasons before his off-court behavior became a problem.
In fall 2003, he was suspended from the Rockets for missing practices and a team flight. But it didn't end there. That same week, he was booked for possession of marijuana. Later that year, he was charged with felony assault for allegedly beating and shooting a gun at a woman in his Houston home.
The last charge was pleaded down to a misdemeanor deadly conduct charge, but he violated his probation by being in the parking lot of a Houston nightclub and was sentenced to 15 days in jail last summer. He was under contract with the Wolves, and general manager Jim Stack called it "simply an unfortunate incident."
The following month, the Wolves signed Griffin to a three-year deal reportedly worth $8.1 million.
NBA Player Watching Porn Causes Crash
By Tracy Stokes, BET.com Staff Writer & Wire Reports
Posted July 3, 2006 – The same night that the Minnesota Timberwolves were showing off their 2006 draft picks, the team's current center, Eddie Griffin, was served Thursday with a civil suit accusing him of slamming his SUV into a parked car because he was drunk and watching porn.
In a video obtained by WCCO-TV in Minneapolis last week, 24-year-old Griffin can be heard pleading with witnesses, saying, "Any car in life you want, I got it for you man. I'll pay for it, I promise. Tomorrow, you'll have it tomorrow."
He was offering to buy a car for the man's SUV he smashed into in front of a Minneapolis grocery store.
"Whatever kind a car you want," Griffin said to the man. "You want a Hummer? You a ... not a Bentley."
It all went down March 30, just after 2 a.m., just a couple of miles from the Target Center where Griffin had just played in a game.
Griffin begged witnesses not to call police, admitting he was drunk, CBS News reported.
Several witnesses called 911. One witness even told a dispatcher that Griffin admitted watching porn in a DVD player that's mounted on the dashboard of his Cadillac Escalade, CBS News reported.
Abed Hassuneh, the brother of the victim, said the he rushed outside to see what happened after hearing the impact. Hassuneh said that Griffin even told him he "was masturbating himself going down the street. That's how the accident happened because he was not paying attention. He's paying attention to that video, and all of a sudden, he's shoveled somebody's car on the top of the sidewalk."
So what happened when police arrived? Nothing according to Hassuneh.
Griffin was not even tested for alcohol, according to the accident report, which also said the NBA player's condition was normal and that no alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident.
And according to Griffin, police drove him home, WCCO-TV reported.
Interim Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan has ordered an internal affairs investigation of the conduct of the two officers who responded to the scene, who can be heard in the video telling witnesses in the store that Griffin would not be charged with driving while intoxicated.
"Obviously, if somebody is drunk and they are driving we want that dealt with by the police officers of Minneapolis," Dolan said.
"I feel insulted that my civil rights were ignored that night and were put on the side for a basketball player, Hassuneh said.
The suit seeks $50,000 in compensatory damages and could be amended to include punitive damages, said Mike Padden, attorney for plaintiffs Jamal Hassuneh and Lindsey Hassuneh.
Timberwolves spokesman Mike Cristaldi said team officials would not comment because they consider it a matter between Griffin and the plaintiffs, the Associated Press reported.
Griffin has a past history of both legal and behavioral problems.
He was New Jersey's first-round pick, seventh overall, in the 2001 draft after playing one season at Seton Hall, where he infamously punched a teammate. His rights were traded to the Houston Rockets, where he played two seasons before his off-court behavior became a problem.
In fall 2003, he was suspended from the Rockets for missing practices and a team flight. But it didn't end there. That same week, he was booked for possession of marijuana. Later that year, he was charged with felony assault for allegedly beating and shooting a gun at a woman in his Houston home.
The last charge was pleaded down to a misdemeanor deadly conduct charge, but he violated his probation by being in the parking lot of a Houston nightclub and was sentenced to 15 days in jail last summer. He was under contract with the Wolves, and general manager Jim Stack called it "simply an unfortunate incident."
The following month, the Wolves signed Griffin to a three-year deal reportedly worth $8.1 million.