According to one of the passengers in Ndamukong Suh's car when the Detroit Lions defensive tackle hit a tree early Saturday morning in Portland, Ore., Suh lied to the police about the reason for the accident, the number of passengers in the car and the extent of the injuries one of them suffered.
Just after the accident happened at approximately 1 a.m. Saturday, Suh told Portland police that he was passing a taxi cab when he lost control of his 1970 Chevy Coupe and crashed into a tree. He told police that nobody in the car was injured, and no tickets or citations were given.
But two people in the car have since spoken to Portland TV station KGW, and their versions of the accident and its effects differ quite seriously from Suh's version at the scene. As a result, the police report has been amended to include passenger injuries, the possible reason for the crash and the number of passengers in the car — from two to three.
"When the light turned green, he floored it," one of the passengers, who asked to remain anonymous, told KGW. "I just remember going so fast and it was violent and just getting thrown around like rag dolls."
The woman told KGW that she suffered several injuries in the crash: a cut eyebrow, a black eye and a cut lip that required stitches. A second passenger verified the woman's claims but did not speak on camera.
Suh called 911 after the crash (
listen to the call here) and said "Yes, everyone is fine" when the dispatcher asked, "Are you sure you don't need an ambulance?" But the woman said that she asked Suh to call an ambulance. Suh refused and told the woman that she was fine. From the scene of the accident, the woman walked away from the car and asked her husband to pick her up. She then was driven to the Oregon Health and Science University for treatment. The insurance company initially refused to pay for her injuries, doing so only when the police report was amended to support her story.
The woman also said that nearly 50 people approached Suh's car after the crash and started taking photos.
A witness named "Allan" spoke to KGW and said that the driver "floored it" when the stoplight at 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] and Burnside turned green. The witness said that it looked as if Suh was trying to "show off" with screeching tires, and he did not see any taxi cab.
When the woman in the car saw a television report about the crash on Sunday morning, she was upset because she felt Suh had lied to police, according to KGW.
However, local authorities told the station that despite the amended police report, there were no plans to issue any citations.
"At no point did anyone there tell an officer that he [Suh] was driving out of control," Sgt. Pete Simpson of the Portland Police Bureau told KGW. "The crash doesn't meet our threshold for investigation which is vulnerable road user, DUI, or serious trauma injury." KGW attempted to contact Suh, who declined to comment.
Exactly right.
