Don't Do The Crime If Something Something - Marvin Harrison, Michael Boley, Cedric Benson

by Skeller on May 5, 2008 6:15 AM EDT in Football

I'll take a break from my review of the NFL Draft so I can cover some news from the good old NFL police blotter.

Marvin Harrison, WR, Ind is being questioned by police over a shooting that happened outside a North Philadelphia garage owned by Harrison, and close to a bar he also owns.

Philadelphia police acknowledged yesterday that Harrison, 35, is under investigation for allegedly being involved in a shooting earlier this week in his old North Philadelphia neighborhood.

The shooting occurred about 5 p.m. Tuesday up the block from a garage and car detail shop that Harrison owns at 25th and Thompson streets, police said.

Six shots were fired in all during the incident. An unidentified 32-year-old man - who had just been involved in a fistfight with Harrison - took a bullet to the hand. A 2-year-old boy suffered a cut under his eye from shards of glass that showered the area when an errant bullet exploded through a car windshield, police said.

(...)

Investigators later learned that the gunshot victim had been kicked out of Harrison's bar, Playmakers, on 28th Street near Cambridge, two weeks earlier, and had bickered with Harrison ever since, sources said.

On Wednesday, detectives visited Harrison's garage and detail shop, which he purchased in 2006 for $200,000, according to tax records.
Sources said that Harrison had a Belgian firearm, an FN5.7, in his garage. Harrison handed the high-powered weapon - which fires armor-piercing rounds - over to investigators.

He then spent about four hours at Central Detectives, accompanied by his attorney, Jerome Brown.

Neither Brown nor Harrison's agent, Tom Condon, could be reached for comment last night.
During a lengthy interview, Harrison acknowledged owning the gun and being involved in a fistfight on Tuesday, but said he had nothing to do with the shooting, sources told the Daily News.

While everybody seems to be going out of their way to point out that Harrison has not been arrested, if these reports are true it's only a matter of time. The old "it was my gun but I didn't fire it" defense doesn't seem to work all that often. With the NFL taking a hard line on player behavior these days, Harrison should see an NFL suspension on any outcome other than being completely cleared by police. Sad news for a future Hall of Famer (still?) and good news for second year WR Anthony Gonzalez, who would be a fantasy star this year if Harrison misses the season.

Cedric Benson, RB, Chi was charged with BUI (Boating While Intoxicated) on a lake near Austin, Texas this past Saturday night.

Chicago Bears running back Cedric Benson was charged with failing a sobriety test while operating a 30-foot boat, then resisting arrest before being hit with pepper spray and dragged ashore by officers.

Benson faces charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest after the incident Saturday night on Lake Travis, Travis County Sheriff's Department spokesman Roger Wade said Sunday.
Benson was released from jail early Sunday on a $14,500 bond. The charges are class B misdemeanors, each punishable by up to six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. A call to Benson's agent was not immediately returned.

Benson was operating the boat with 15 passengers aboard when he was stopped by a Lower Colorado River Authority officer for a random safety inspection. He failed a field sobriety test on the officer's boat and was uncooperative when the officer tried to take him ashore, the authority said.

"When Benson did not pass the test, he presented himself as a threat to the officer and argued about whether or not he would be taken to land to have a follow-up field sobriety test performed on land and refused to put on a life jacket," the authority said in a statement.

Wow. The drunken boating is bad enough, but it's the part about getting pepper sprayed and then dragged off the boat that's going to make them fume over at the NFL Command Headquarters. Assuming he's charged and sentenced with a fine and probation, expect a four game suspension from the NFL. This opens the door for somebody - anybody, please! - to take the starting RB role away from Benson. The leading candidates are rookie Matt Forte and Adrian "Not The Good One" Peterson.

Michael Boley, LB, Atl was charged with battery on Saturday and released by police on bond. There are no details on what happened, and neither the police or the Falcons are saying anything.

This would be a huge blow to the Falcons, as Boley is the core of their young defense and just about the only defensive player worth starting in IDP (individual defensive player) fantasy leagues.

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says:

The third-year outside linebacker was among the team's leading tacklers (110, four forced fumbles, two interceptions) last season and is arguably its best player.

Indeed. This is Boley's first offense, so he may be able to escape a suspension although it depends on what he did. If he punched some drunk that was harassing him in a bar, that's one thing. If he slapped his girlfriend around, that's another. It might be the same in the eyes of the law, but it's not in the eyes of the NFL.

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