Can’t Wait for LBJ and Shaq?
June 30, 2009While We’re Waiting… No Stars to New York, Hafner’s Clean Jorts, and Artest’s Intensity
July 1, 2009
And the Donte Stallworth situation continues to unfold. I’m actually pretty surprised that it took this long for the audio to surface. Via NBCMiami.com, we have the 911 call that was placed shortly after the now-suspended wide receiver struck Mario Reyes with his automobile on March 14th.
While there is some questionable language, you can definitely tell that Stallworth was (understandably) shaken up.
Stallworth:“Ok, listen, listen…This guy just ran in front of my car and he’s (expletive) laying in the street dude…I, I…”
Dispatch: “So you hit somebody in the street?”
Stallworth: “Yeah, you gotta send an ambulance right now man.” […] “He ran in front of the car sir, he like jumped in front of the car. Oh no. [Expletive.] Oh my God, this guy is…oh…”
Feel free to take a listen yourself. It’s not exactly the most comforting audio that you’ll hear today – or ever – so you’ve been warned.
19 Comments
It is good to see that the was truly remorseful and knows what he did wrong. No matter how much Cleveland fans would like to hate him for his on the field performance, he seems like a truly decent guy.
Also with all the heat he has taken, if it was Brady Quinn in this same situation, would Cleveland fans really be as angry and wanting to lock him up and throw away the keys like they want with Donte?
I don’t think smart Cleveland fans do want to lock him up.
It’s good to see how he reacted. Maybe media-types won’t whine or make Vick comparisons as much as they had been.
Yea, its good he didn’t have the typically self-centered celebrity response of “DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE”.
He was driving drunk and that’s never going to be condoned or accepted. But how many regular people (with less to lose) would have split? I’m sure Donte knew he was not going to pass a breathalyzer, and he stopped and called it in himself. That is at least a little decency in an indecent situation.
Unimportant technological point to be made here… how is it that we can hear Donte Stallworth perfectly clearly on his cell phone but the 911 operator is nearly unintelligible. How many times did Donte have to say, “could you repeat that?”
I couldn’t understand either, and I wasn’t on a windy Florida bridge…
It’s like the one time I called 911 and it took about five rings for them to answer… seemed like an eternity.
was thinking the same thing…it sounded like he was talking to Charlie Brown’s teacher…but he was very cooperative and remorseful…
@4 he watched “The Machnist”
Machinist
Somebody spells better when unleaded…
I think it’s pretty clear why he only got a month from this.
For a guy who had been drinking, he sounds remarkably with it and aware of what’s going on, and specifically notes that the guy ran out in front of him. I wonder if a perfectly sober guy would have been able to avoid it; I’m betting that the court felt not really, either. None of that excuses the drinking; just explains the short sentence.
2 years house arrest is crazy though.
he has millions of dollars…he can buy a house big enough to not have to worry about staying in it all day everyday.
The guy “ran” or “jumped” in front of Donte’s car, he says. Does anyone know exactly how close this was to the crosswalk. Donte didn’t run a red light, right? Reyes ran into the street outside of the crosswalk. Wonder if he’d have been dead no matter what Donte drank the night before. And think it’s at least reasonable to ask if Reyes didn’t see a Bentley and see dollar signs.
He was traveling eastbound on the Macarthur Causeway. I google mapped it but couldn’t find Terminal Island. Doesn’t look like a there are a whole lotta places for crosswalks. Reyes was outside of a crosswalk and Stallworth also had pot in his system as well.
Well i wonder if someone normal like one of us would only get like a 30 day thing. I think it was an accident but if your drinking and driving come on. i would think maybe theres a possibility that none of this would have happened. but i like how he didnt run and he called in and stayed. he has good Chacter. oh and plus hes from GRANT HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!!!!! WE DA CHAMPS Of CALI
I hesitate to call him a “truly decent guy.” I realize that bad things happen to well intentioned people all the time, but let’s face the facts: Donte Stallworth was driving under the influence of at least alcohol (likely weed as well). He killed a man, unintentionally or not. I applaud him for taking responsibility, but I hesitate to sing his praises much further. He has all the means in the world to choose not to drive drunk, but he didn’t.
@ #14 – It’s despicable to blame the victim here. I’m sure if his name wasn’t Reyes (if it was Smith, or Jones) that wouldn’t even have come up.
Drinking and driving is never acceptable. But no matter how much this incident boils your blood, Donte Stallworth (drunk/baked or not) is not 100% repsonsible for this accident. And that, along with a few other important factors (his remorse, financial settlement, the family wanting this resolved quickly) is the reason Stallworth will only spend 24 days in jail.
People can point to Leonard Little but I still maintain that if Stallworth was 100% responsible, he would’ve had a MUCH stiffer sentence. The whole country was watching this situation whereas many people outside STL didn’t know about Little’s multiple DUIs until after the fact.
It is despicable to blame the victim in many instances, but objectively looking at it, Reyes is partly culpable for this accident. I’m sure he was a great man and he definitely didn’t deserve to die, but he must share some of the blame.
I don’t know why people are saying he was likely high as well (#17). You can test positive for marijuana if you haven’t smoked for over a month, you don’t have to smoke the day before to come up positive on a drug test. He barely blew over the legal limit for alcohol also, which isn’t a legitimate excuse, but he sounds very coherent and it was 7 a.m. the next morning. I don’t think either thing is okay, but you have to put it into perspective. Someone runs in front of your car at 7 a.m. on a freeway? If he dodged hitting Reyes, he’s probably going to cause a big accident by swerving to avoid him.