The manager of a downtown Cincinnati bar says Bengals linebacker Rey Maualuga punched him after being told to leave early Sunday morning.
FOX 19 in Cincinnati reports that Sammy Laham, manager of the bar Luxe, says that Maualuga responded to being told it was time for his group to go by punching the messenger.
“One of them said something at which point I repeated myself, that they had to leave, and then Rey Maualuga got up, took three or four steps and punched me in the face, more noticeably the eye, then my nose started to bleed,” Laham said. “Then security diffused the situation.”
A witness to the incident, Brittany Knight, gave FOX 19 a similar account.
“Rey was leaning up against the bar and he stepped forward and swung,” she said.
Cincinnati Police are investigating. No charges have been filed. Maualuga’s agent, Gary Uberstine, told FOX 19 that he had spoken to Maualuga about the accusation but can’t comment.
Even without criminal charges, the mere fact that Maualuga was involved in some type of incident in a bar is troubling. On February 2, 2010, Maualuga was placed on two years’ probation for drunk driving, and days later he checked into the Betty Ford Center to get treatment for alcohol abuse. This incident apparently happened just three days after Maualuga’s probation ended.