NFLPolice Blotter

Detroit Lyin’? Ndamukong Suh’s Passengers Dispute Some Key Details In His Car Crash Story

Early on Saturday morning, Detroit Lions defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh crashed his car into a tree in downtown Portland. Suh wasn’t intoxicated, and he told police he had lost control of his 1970 Chevrolet Coupe while trying to pass a taxicab. The car was towed, the police left, and a PR crisis was averted.

Or not. At the time, Suh told police that no one in the car was injured, and that no one needed medical attention. But in an interview with Portland’s KGW, two of Suh’s passengers have contradicted the All-Pro’s story, saying that they were indeed injured in the crash. One female passenger said she “had a cut upper eyebrow which required stitches, a black eye and a busted lip.” She said she told Suh repeatedly that she was hurt and needed a doctor, but Suh refused, telling her she was fine. The woman eventually walked down the street, where her husband picked her up and took her to the hospital.

Also in dispute: whether there was ever a cab that Suh was trying to pass. The female passenger says there wasn’t. A witness who saw the crash and called 911 says there wasn’t, either. Furthermore, the female passenger refused to be identified because she told police she feared for her safety.

In terms of issues with the police, Suh looks like he’s in the clear for now.

“At no point did anyone there tell an officer that he [Suh] was driving out of control,” said Sgt. Pete Simpson with the Portland Police Bureau. “The crash doesn’t meet our threshold for investigation which is vulnerable road user, DUI, or serious trauma injury.”

But in terms of his image? Or possible lawsuits? That’s a different story.

It’s kind of amazing how we got here. Remember how heading into this season Ndamukong Suh was like a giant marketable teddy bear, a guy whose occasional dirty play was excused because he’s personable and has a good smile and moonwalked on ESPN and pushes Subway sandwiches? Now, during a season in which he’s been fined for nearly beheading quarterbacks and is serving a two-game suspension for stomping on a guy, and after a car crash where a woman has basically classified him as a Scary Man who Lied to Police and Knows People, the giant teddy bear doesn’t seem so marketable anymore.

[KGW, car image via KATU]