LeSean McCoy will not face charges in Philadelphia nightclub fight
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- LeSean McCoy will not be charged for his alleged role in a February nightclub fight that involved off-duty Philadelphia police officers, the district attorney announced Monday.
Philadelphia DA Seth Williams said his office has found that there was insufficient evidence to prove any of the individuals involved committed a crime.
"The facts show me that there is not enough evidence to meet the legal threshold to issue charges," Williams said.
The district attorney explains the legal threshold is a matter of determining if the actions taken were not in self-defense or in the defense of others.
Williams says, "While it is clear that a physical altercation took place and that several people were injured, there is insufficient credible evidence to determine which of the participants was the initial aggressor, or if some participants were acting in self-defense or in the reasonable defense of another."
The district attorney went on to explain that only two individuals provided any information about how the physical contact was initiated. He says both stories contradicted the other.
Each participant declined to file a report when asked by uniformed police officers outside the club immediately following the incident. In addition, the participants declined medical attention outside of the club, and only later sought care at hospitals.
And Williams adds that on numerous occasions, multiple participants misidentified others present or involved in the altercation.
Action News obtained viewer video from the incident at 2:45 a.m. February 7 at the Recess Lounge in Old City.
In addition, TMZ has posted footage of the bar fight that apparently shows the NFL star's face.
The DA explains, two groups were in the VIP section of the club ordering drinks. McCoy's group ordered champagne on special - the special being if you ordered three $350 bottles of champagne, you get the fourth one free. The other group ordered a bottle of tequila, a bottle of Hennessy, and a bottle of champagne.
The waitress delivered four bottles of champagne to the one party. The person who paid for the order gave one of those bottles to a woman who was celebrating her birthday.
At that time, a member of the other group saw someone in close proximity holding a bottle of champagne. Thinking someone took his bottle of champagne, that person accused the other man of stealing the bottle.
Williams explains expletives were exchanged between the two men, and at one point the one man put his hands on the collar of the person in McCoy's group.
Those two ended up on the ground, with the man in McCoy's group underneath the other man. However, Williams says, the circumstances leading to that are unclear.
What Williams explains is that in this circumstance, they were not able to define if the others involved were unreasonable in coming to the defense of another.
In video obtained of the incident, McCoy can be seen going over to the area where people were on the ground. Through his attorney, he offered his explanation, saying he saw someone on the ground with his hands around his friend's throat. So, as he explained, he went over to protect his friend.
McCoy's lawyer, Dennis Cogan, says, "It's very clear that McCoy didn't start any fight, he didn't want to continue any fight. The most he did in this matter, after the fight broke out, he went over to try to break it up. There was a guy on top of his friend, T.J., and no matter what other facts have been bandied about out there, he was concerned about T.J."
Authorities say one officer suffered a broken nose and broken ribs in the fight.
The 27-year-old McCoy played for the Bills last season after six years with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Despite the fact McCoy won't be charged, ESPN reports that the NFL will conduct its own investigation into the incident and still could impose disciplinary actions.
