Updated: 1:42 p.m.
More than a week after the Philadelphia Police Department completed its investigation, the District Attorney’s office is “pushing back” against issuing an arrest warrant for LeSean McCoy for his alleged involvement in a bar brawl with off-duty police officers, law enforcement officials told CSNPhilly.com on Thursday.
According to law enforcement officials, tension between the District Attorney’s office and PPD has risen over the last few days because of the delay in charging McCoy and three other men for their alleged role in a fight at Recess Lounge in Old City early on the morning of Feb. 7. Sources told CSNPhilly.com that the D.A.’s office is hesitant to issue warrants because it has questions about the conduct of the officers that evening, including that the officers did not call 9-1-1 during the incident and whether they were drinking to excess.
A spokesman for the District Attorney refuted a report by The Buffalo News and said no press conference is scheduled in the immediate future. The spokesman also said there would be no announcement on warrants Thursday.
On Wednesday, one of McCoy’s lawyers, Dennis Cogan, told the Buffalo News that his client is innocent.
“I’m here to say and I’m telling you that McCoy did nothing wrong, nothing wrong,” Cogan said. “And he was sober. The questions will have to be asked about the conditions of other people.”
FOP president John McNesby could not be reached for comment.
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According to police reports, officers Darnell Jessie, Roland Butler and Sergeant Daniel Ayers purchased four bottles of champagne that evening. At some point, the incident reports state that a member of McCoy’s group, former Pitt football player Tamarcus Porter, got in an argument with Butler over the ownership of one of the bottles. That sparked a fight between the officers and McCoy, Porter, former NFL running back Curtis Brinkley and a friend, Christopher Henderson.
During the ensuing altercation, according to a report, Butler was knocked to the ground and “punched, kicked and stomped about his body and head multiple times.” Butler transported himself to Delaware County Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for a laceration to his right eye, a broken nose, broken ribs and a sprained thumb. Jessie was admitted to Hahnemann Hospital, where he received stitches over his left eye and treatment for a possible skull fracture. Ayers was uninjured but filed a police report two days after the alleged altercation.