Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, Rashee Rice certainly hasn't "laid low" this offseason, as he is now under investigation for allegedly assaulting a photographer at a nightclub, just a month after he caused a multi-vehicle car crash on a Dallas highway.
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When looking at the police report relating to the recent so-called "punching photographer" incident, police arrived at Lit Kitchen and Lounge, just after 3:30 am, due to a "major disturbance call."
Reportedly, the victim, who was identified as "the photographer," told police that he had left the club around 1:30 am, which led to Rice sending him a message on Instagram, at around 2:00 am, asking him to return. Being that, the photographer claimed he came back, because he was under the assumption that Rice wanted to hire him to take pictures.
However, evidently that wasn't what happened. The photographer said upon coming back to the nightclub, according to his side of the story, Rice showed him something on his phone, and then hauled off and punched him in the left side of his face, in which he suffered an "apparent minor injury" as well as "swelling on the jaw."
With that being said, there were two witnesses that were in attendance at the club, who said that Rice was not seen having any such physical contact with the photographer, as it was apparently just a verbal altercation from their viewpoint. Also, the owner of the nightclub, Reza Dibaje, told news reporters, that he also questions the allegations, for if there was a physical assault, he would have heard about it, "Maybe I missed something, I don't know." If witness testimony holds up, Rice may have a chance to be cleared by the police.
Undoubtedly, no matter if the victim is telling the truth or not, as it is under investigation, this dispute surely violates the conditions of Rice's pending release trial from his reckless driving assault charges.
The Dallas police department have certainly become well-acquainted with the 24-year-old NFL player, as Rice already is facing eight felony charges, including bodily injury and aggravated assault, relating to his involvement in a six-car crash on U.S.-75 Dallas expressway that left multiple people injured.
Dashcam footage of the car accident that Rashee Rice was reportedly involved in: pic.twitter.com/w6z5QFFB1e
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) March 31, 2024
As for the punishment of the crime, if charged on all felony counts, Rice could face jail time, as collision involving injury and serious bodily injury is a third-degree felony, which in Texas can be sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison. While the vehicle aggravated assault charge, originating from the crash, is a second-degree felony and can range anywhere from two to 20 years in prison.
Rice's attorney says that the receiver has been cooperating with law enforcement ever since the March 30 car pileup wreck, as he turned himself in and posted a $40k bond, after a viral video surfaced online, which showed him walking away from the crash scene.
Alleged footage of Rashee Rice and others leaving the scene of the car accident: pic.twitter.com/GKFnBTCCaA
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) April 1, 2024
Later it was confirmed that Rice was driving a rented Lamborghini Urus 119 mph leading up to causing the six-car crash, while SMU football player, Theodore Knox, was reportedly driving Rice's corvette, 91 mph, at the time of the accident.
In addition, Rice and Knox are also both facing $1 million dollars in damages, relating to a lawsuit for monetary relief from two of the victims, as a result of injuries incurred from the unfortunate incident.
No matter what happens with all of the legal trouble that Rice is facing now, certainly a lengthy suspension is coming his way.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said Monday, before giving out any punishment, the team will await "the law enforcement part of it to take place and then we'll go from there with that."
In his rookie season last year, Rice won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs, proving himself as one of Patrick Mahomes' favorite targets, catching 79 passes for 938 yards, to go along with seven TD catches. After the dust settles, fans will find out if they will be seeing Rice in uniform this season, or maybe behind bars, who knows.
