September 2014 has been, hands down, the worst month of Roger Goodell's tenure as NFL Commissioner. From the Ray Rice elevator tape leaking out through TMZ Sports to Goodell holding one of the worst press conferences in NFL history, everything has gone wrong for the Commissioner over the course of the last 30 days. And now, it sounds like he may have yet another scandal on his hands involving his personal bodyguard.
Back on September 17, a freelance photographer for the New York Daily News named JB Nicholas was arrested in New York City and charged with second-degree assault, third-degree assault, and criminal mischief after he allegedly got into an altercation with Thomas Crowe (pictured above), the head of NFL security at the NFL headquarters in NYC and Goodell's personal bodyguard. But according to Gothamist, Crowe may have been the aggressor in the altercation. Nicholas told them that he attempted to follow an SUV driven by Crowe after it left the NFL headquarters that day in the hopes of snapping a shot of Roger Goodell at some point. But instead, he ended up getting into with Crowe.
"Somewhere between 88th and 89th [Streets], the truck pulls alongside me on the passenger side, turns on its windshield wipers, and pins me against a double parked car," Nicholas told Gothamist. "I was knocked off and the truck ran over my foot."
Nicholas didn't give up, though. After getting knocked off his bike, he says he got back on it and continued to chase the SUV. That is, until the truck hit him again. Nicholas claims that, at that point, Crowe got out and physically assaulted him.
"He's telling everyone he's a cop," Nicholas said, "I hold him off with a stiff arm in the intersection and then my phone fell, so I figure I'd just sit down at the end of the flower bed in the median and wait for the cops to come and arrest this guy. Then he tackles me backward and puts his forearm into my neck and starts choking me…So I grab his tie and say, 'Stop fucking choking me!' And he loosens up and puts his hands on my diaphragm. That's when I hear sirens and Crowe says, 'The calvary's coming.'"
Nicholas says that when police arrived, Crowe—who may be a former NYPD detective, according to Gothamist—greeted a commanding officer "with a hand shake" before getting back into his SUV and driving away. Meanwhile, Nicholas was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment before being placed under arrest and charged for his role in the incident. Crowe has not been charged with anything. But one man who witnessed the altercation between the two men told Gothamist that Crowe was the one who initiated the whole thing.
"I saw the driver get out of his car very aggressively, grab the photographer, and shout, 'You're under arrest, I'm a policeman!'" witness Joshua Holland told Gothamist. "The driver pulled the photographer off his bike, wrestled him to the ground in the median, and punched him in the face once. Then he was on top of him holding him down with an arm bar, a forearm jammed into his neck. He was freaking out and shouting, 'I'm a cop! I'm a cop!' I was like, 'Does this guy have a gun?' I was a little worried about that."
Both the NFL and the NYPD refused to comment on the situation when Gothamist reached out to them. But Nicholas is due in court on December 1 to answer to the charges filed against him and the Daily News has helped him secure the services of a lawyer to try and clear his name. So stay tuned to see if this ends up turning into yet another nightmare for Roger Goodell.
[via Gothamist]
