Police Confirm Lucky Whitehead Was Telling The Truth
On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys released wide receiver Lucky Whitehead a few hours after learning the receiver was arrested in Virginia and charged with larceny. Whitehead reportedly didn’t show up for a court hearing earlier in the month, which led to another charge.
The Prince William County Police Department said they arrested Whitehead around 1:30 AM. On June 22 after a convenience store employee noticed he left the store without paying for some items.
Whitehead was charged with shoplifting under $200, a misdemeanor, but failed to show up for his arraignment on July 6.
When news of the arrest broke, Whitehead said it was a case of mistaken identity because he wasn’t in Virginia at the time the crime occurred.
His agent, David Rich, told ESPN that he informed the Cowboys that Whitehead was in Dallas on June 22 and had a flight ticket to prove it.
Despite Whitehead and his agent’s claims that he wasn’t in Virginia at the time of the incident, the Cowboys released the receiver. After Whitehead was released by the team, executive vice president Stephen Jones decided to release Whitehead based on a culmination of incidents involving the receiver over the past 12 months.
On Tuesday, the Prince William County Police Department confirmed Whitehead’s story and issued a statement saying the man they arrested on June 22 was not Whitehead.
The department said the man they arrested didn’t have identification on him, but he verbally provided them with Whitehead’s name, date of birth, and social security number.
The department apologized for the impact the publicity had on Whitehead and his family.
Despite having his name cleared of any wrong doing, the Cowboys said they won’t be bringing Whitehead back and have moved on.
Rich said he will speak with Whitehead and his family to figure out how to proceed, either legally or through the NFL Players’ Association.
“We got made an example of,” Rich said. “They needed to make an example of somebody to get those boys’ heads on straight. It is calculated. But I get it. It’s business … Jason Garrett said it. They needed to do what’s in the best interest of the Cowboys. I think they’re wrong, but I get it.”