Bellevue, Wash., police arrested Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman in October on investigation of vehicular assault and hit-and-run, but they released the 26-year-old without charges the next day. They’re now recommending the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charge Coleman with felonies for both offenses, Jennifer Sullivan and Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times report. The prosecutor’s office will take the next several weeks to determine whether to file charges against Coleman, who was driving a Dodge pickup at a “high rate of speed,” according to police, and struck a Honda Civic traveling the same direction.
The police report, which was released Monday (per Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com), says Coleman’s truck was going 60 in a 35-mph zone, and his foot was on the accelerator at 100 percent for several seconds. That pushed the other vehicle 260 feet off the roadway up a hill. It then flipped over. The driver went to the hospital with a head injury and a fractured left clavicle, while police found a barefoot Coleman two blocks from the scene. Stephen W. Hayne, Coleman’s lawyer, said the accident dislodged Coleman’s hearing aids, which may have left him disoriented and caused him to leave the scene. The report reveals Coleman admitted to smoking “Spice,” synthetic cannabinoids, and showed signs of impairment. Police found multiple bags of synthetic cannabinoids and various drug paraphernalia in Coleman’s truck. However, there were no signs of drug consumption in the blood tests Coleman underwent several hours after the accident. Despite that, Coleman – whom police accused of driving in a manner that was “rash and heedless” and “indifferent to the consequences” – could now be in serious trouble.
The four-year veteran is set to become a restricted free agent.
Some notes on the NFC’s other bird-themed teams:
- It’s currently unclear who will quarterback the Eagles next season. If newly extended tight end Zach Ertz has his way, the club will re-sign pending free agent Sam Bradford. “I’ve played for five quarterbacks now in three years, which seems like a lot, and I want to play with Sam,” Ertz said, per Bob Ford of Philly.com. Ertz added that Bradford hopes to remain with the Eagles. “He wants to be in Philadelphia. Whether he’s back here or not, that’s none of my business, honestly. He’s going to do what’s best for him and the Eagles are going to do what’s best for us. But at the end of the day, I think he wants to be here.”
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The Cardinals finished a below-average 20th in the NFL in sacks during the regular season and took down Panthers quarterback Cam Newton just once in their 49-15 NFC title game loss on Sunday. As a result, the Cards’ top offseason priority will be strengthening their pass rush, general manager Steve Keim said Monday (per Darren Urban of the team’s website).
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Despite playing his entire rookie year with a torn right labrum, Falcons pass rusher Vic Beasley will not have offseason surgery, according to head coach Dan Quinn (link via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). As Ledbetter writes, some labrum tears can be treated without surgery. Beasley led the 2015-16 Falcons with four sacks, a franchise record for rookies, and will look to build on that next season without having to deal with a shoulder injury.
If the Eagles want to get the most out of Ertz and their receiving corps as a whole, they’d move on from Bradford. It just seems Bradford will never be more than ‘shaky’ (thought I guess that would describe pretty much all but about eight or nine quarterbacks in the league).
The police waited till the offseason to charge this guy? Multiple felonies in October and he is just now getting charged..,. If that was me I’d have been arraigned immediately just for the drug possession. Gotta be nice to play for a team that even the police look the other way for.
I’ll be very interested to see how Beasley performs in Year 2. He was my favorite pass-rusher in last year’s draft, and PFF did give him high marks for 2015, but I’m excited to see if there’s a full-scale breakout on the horizon.