When word first emerged on Friday that Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs had been arrested in Arizona, no one knew anything about the charges. Suggs thereafter issued a statement indicating that he’d been arrested only for driving on a suspended license, due to the failure to pay speeding tickets.
As it turns out, Suggs also faces another claim. Via Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun, Suggs also has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident.
Per Zrebiec, police responded to a call regarding a one-car crash and found Suggs’ BMW in a parking lot. Police arrived as Suggs was getting into a friend’s car in the same parking lot.
Suggs, who had a “two-inch abrasion” on his head, wasn’t found to be impaired. He told police he “possibly fell asleep” before the accident.
The charge of leaving the scene of an accident gives the situation a more ominous feel than the mere accusation of driving on a suspended license, and it makes the possibility of league-imposed discipline even greater -- especially if there’s a feeling in the league office that Suggs wasn’t punished enough (or at all) for pre-Ray Rice conduct including allegations that he held a bottle of bleach over his girlfriend and their young son and the court-ordered surrender of multiple firearms as part of a protective order obtained against him by his girlfriend.
Also, Suggs faced felony assault charges a decade ago for a fight that occurred a month before the Ravens made him a top-10 pick in 2003. The case actually went to trial, and Suggs was acquitted by a jury.
Didn’t know about that one? Like other incidents that happened before social media became what it currently is, the issue was covered but it wasn’t picked apart aggressively and completely, with anyone paying attention to the situation quickly assuming the position of “HE DID IT!” or “HE’S INNOCENT!” and refusing to listen to any facts that may alter that perspective.