UPDATED 1:35 p.m. ET: TMZ has noted that the police report from the incident supports what ESPN published.
“The defendant ran towards the door of the courtroom to exit. While running towards the door, the defendant tackled officer B. Robert causing her to fall backwards and sustaining an injury to the back of her head,” the report reads.
See original story below.
Former NFL cornerback Dimitri Patterson is suing ESPN for $50 million, arguing that an article posted about him last year was “false and defamatory.” The piece, which was published on August 15, 2017, claims that Patterson was in custody after injuring two Miami-Dade police officers as he tried to avoid getting arrested during a “courtroom escape attempt.”
ESPN is standing by the information detailed in the article, adding that the company confirmed the information with police, and pointing out that “a female officer suffered neck and back injuries, and a male officer injured his wrist while apprehending Patterson,” according to TMZ.
Patterson, who filed the lawsuit while acting as his own lawyer, says the article is “false and defamatory in its overall portrayal of Dimitri Patterson as a violent, impulsive, unstable person.” In his lawsuit, Patterson included a letter from the company’s legal team defending the accuracy of the article. The eight-year NFL veteran alleges that he has court video footage proving ESPN was wrong in their reporting of the situation.
Patterson played in 79 games where he amassed nine interceptions and 162 tackles.
