National Football League: Video puts Michael Vick version of events in question
More trouble for already troubled Michael Vick. On June 25th Michael Vick was at a scene of a shooting outside a nightclub where he was celebrating his birthday. What exactly happened has been unclear ever since. There are reports surfacing that the victim, who police said was shot in the leg, was Vick’s co-defendant in the Dog Fighting trials, Quanis Phillips. The police did not release the name of the victim but Quanis Philips was treated that day in the hospital. It is being said that he was shot after a confrontation with Michael Vick. The Shooting took place at 2:10 am on Friday. However, His lawyers maintained that Vick had gone long before the incident took place, at least 10 minutes prior or as many as 20 minutes to the shooting.
Surveillance video, however, just put that sworn statement in doubt. Vick is shown to be leaving minutes before the shooting takes place, at 2:07 am. Police are reviewing the tapes. This looks really bad for Vick as the video clearly shows Vick and his entourage leaving the venue of his birthday party in the direction where the shooting took place only 3 minutes prior. Police had previously said that Vick was not a person of interest in the ongoing investigation and that victim and witnesses were uncooperative. The video however will go a long way in helping the authorities scratch away at the truth.
A spokesman for the nightclub said that he was not accusing Vick of being involved in the shooting but said that his claims of having left long before were simply incorrect. The video shows Vick getting to his car surrounded by fans squabbling over autographs and photos. Club security had to disperse the gathered crowd and the car waiting for Vick leave at 2:07. At 2:10 the people standing outside the Guadalajara are seen ducking for cover in, what it is believed to be a reaction to the sound of gunshots. The first 911 call about the incident was made at 2:11.
No one can know what is going through his lawyers minds now but they are standing by their earlier statement that Michael was long gone, did not know who did the shooting or had anything to do with the shooting. “Anyone who says any different better be very careful,” his lawyer, who also defended him in the dog-trials, said.
One of the conditions of his parole, awarded after an 18 month prison sentence, was that Michael shall not associate with anyone convicted in the trials, including Philips, unless prior permission is acquired from his parole officer. The nightclubs spokesman said that they could not identify Vick and Philips interacting at any point in the surveillance tapes and that they were not aware of any incident or confrontation between Vick and Philips or anyone else at the club that night. They said that it was a flawless night for the club until the shooting.
The NFL reinstated the Eagles’ Quarterback on the condition that he must comply fully with the terms of his probation. Associating with Philips would be a violation of that. His lawyers however said, despite claims to the contrary, that Vick did not invite Philips to the party nor did he interact with him at the party or any time later. How the NFL would react to the situation at this time appears to be the least of Vick’s problems.
As of yet Police have not arrested anyone and as far as we know, Vick is not a suspect, yet. Also tangled up in the mess now is Falcons receiver Roddy White. If the video means that Vick wasn’t being perfectly honest with the police regarding the timeline of the incident, than neither was Roddy White who corroborated Vick’s version of events.
The NFL is conducting its investigation to verify if Vick was or was not in violation of his probation or the NFL’s personal conduct policy. If found in violation of either, the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, is likely to take harsh disciplinary action against Vick.
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