The man who filed a criminal complaint accusing Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald of assault is now offering an apology to the NFL star.
Through his attorney Todd J. Hollis, De’Vinzent Spriggs says he mistook Donald for his attacker during the skirmish outside the Boom Boom Room, a Pittsburgh-area nightclub.
“I wanted to make this statement public. And to extend an apology to Aaron for what he’s gone through, but I clearly know this was not him,” said Hollis, per Pittsburgh’s KDKA CBS affiliate.
This comes shortly after Donald’s attorney Casey White claimed video and eyewitnesses at the scene will refute assault claims alleging Donald was responsible for Spriggs’ injuries.
Spriggs filed his criminal complaint in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, alleging that he needed 16 stitches and suffered a broken orbital bone, broken nose, concussion and a significant arm injury in a 3 a.m. bar fight Sunday.
At the time, Spriggs claimed he accidentally bumped into Donald, who immediately became enraged, and things turned physical.
White told ESPN on Friday that Spriggs started the fracas by digging his elbow into Donald’s back, then swinging a beer bottle over Donald’s head.
“He turned around and it’s this Mr. Spriggs … and Aaron goes, ‘What’s up?’ and Mr. Spriggs starts yelling belligerently, ‘Did I mean to? Did I mean to?’ He keeps repeating, it’s kind of nonsensical, but he keeps yelling, ‘Did I mean to?’ It’s apparent to Aaron and it’s apparent to all the witnesses that [Spriggs] is intoxicated,” White said.
“As he ducks, somebody from behind grabs him to stop him from interacting with this guy, Mr. Spriggs, so he holds Aaron back in a sense,” White said. “At that point, that’s when other people come to Aaron’s aid and defend him by removing, so to speak, Mr. Spriggs from the area where he is punched, and he is fighting; it’s a mutual fight at this point between other individuals who Aaron does not really know.”
The Rams issued a statement confirming they were aware of the incident and were gathering more details.
Donald, 29, was a college star at Pitt and a first-round draft pick of the Rams in 2014. The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year works out in Pittsburgh in the offseason.
