Official: NFL player shot by off-duty police officer

[Mitchy moo]

Ok, a cop tells you to stop and has a weapon drawn so what do you do? I say anything you say officer and stop, fairly simple right?

(CNN) -- The San Diego Chargers' Steve Foley was shot Sunday by an off-duty policeman who had followed him to his home after noticing Foley's car driving erratically, a sheriff's investigator in San Diego, California, said.
The 30-year-old, nine-year NFL veteran was shot twice; his wounds are not believed to be life-threatening, said San Diego Sheriff's Department Lt. Dennis Brugos.
The shooting came less than a week after the 6-foot, 4-inch, 265-pound linebacker was cleared on charges stemming from a scuffle with police in April.
The Coronado police officer, who was driving an unmarked car and was about 20 miles outside his jurisdiction, told investigators he started following Foley's car after he saw it about 10 miles north of San Diego on Interstate 15 northbound "weaving in lanes, traveling at speeds of between 30 and 90 mph and nearly colliding with several other vehicles on the highway."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/03/nfl.shooting/index.html

[OpIv37]

what business does an off-duty officer have following someone home and drawing a weapon on them? If the officer was really concerned about the way Foley was driving, he should have called in an on-duty officer.

If some guy pulls up next to you on the highway in an unmarked car late at night, are you just going to assume he's a police officer because he said so? There have been plenty of stories about women being raped and guys being robbed in just that situation.

An off duty officer 20 miles outside his jurisdiction has no business being in that situation. I can't believe he couldn't get an on-duty officer in a marked car to meet him over the 10+ miles that they drove.

[Scumbag College]

what business does an off-duty officer have following someone home and drawing a weapon on them? If the officer was really concerned about the way Foley was driving, he should have called in an on-duty officer.

If some guy pulls up next to you on the highway in an unmarked car late at night, are you just going to assume he's a police officer because he said so? There have been plenty of stories about women being raped and guys being robbed in just that situation.

An off duty officer 20 miles outside his jurisdiction has no business being in that situation. I can't believe he couldn't get an on-duty officer in a marked car to meet him over the 10+ miles that they drove.

I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with your argument. What happened if in the fifth or tenth mile of being followed this guy caused a really bad accident? I'd be pretty mad if this "concerned" cop didn't do anything to stop this and just followed him. And why did he draw his gun on him? What justification did he have if he got out of a parked car and started walking into HIS own home?

[HHURRICANE]

what business does an off-duty officer have following someone home and drawing a weapon on them? If the officer was really concerned about the way Foley was driving, he should have called in an on-duty officer.

If some guy pulls up next to you on the highway in an unmarked car late at night, are you just going to assume he's a police officer because he said so? There have been plenty of stories about women being raped and guys being robbed in just that situation.

An off duty officer 20 miles outside his jurisdiction has no business being in that situation. I can't believe he couldn't get an on-duty officer in a marked car to meet him over the 10+ miles that they drove.

Foley was suing the police for excessive force and just filed the suit this past week for the event in April that he was aquitted of. There is more to this story!!

[OpIv37]

Foley was suing the police for excessive force and just filed the suit this past week for the event in April that he was aquitted of. There is more to this story!!

good for him.

sounds like there may be some retaliation for the lawsuit going on here.

[Mitchy moo]

If somebody shoots the bush and a few shots in the air, you have to at least pause and listen for a few minutes, ask for a badge and see what the problem is.

[JD]

10 bucks says this cop was angry over the scuffle Foley had with his fellow police officers and used what he thought was probable cause and just lit his ass up.

[Billsrock4life]

what business does an off-duty officer have following someone home and drawing a weapon on them? If the officer was really concerned about the way Foley was driving, he should have called in an on-duty officer.

If some guy pulls up next to you on the highway in an unmarked car late at night, are you just going to assume he's a police officer because he said so? There have been plenty of stories about women being raped and guys being robbed in just that situation.

An off duty officer 20 miles outside his jurisdiction has no business being in that situation. I can't believe he couldn't get an on-duty officer in a marked car to meet him over the 10+ miles that they drove.

a very good point from the way the story was reported the officer didnt show any means of ID and i wouldve asked to see a badge or something but i agree with JD the officer prolly shot him in retaliation to the previous scuffle foley had with the police

[Meathead]

a grossly irresponsible assumption on you guys part

idk what went on any more than you but im sure as hell aint gonna start assuming the cop did it out of retaliation

[OpIv37]

a grossly irresponsible assumption on you guys part

idk what went on any more than you but im sure as hell aint gonna start assuming the cop did it out of retaliation

The cop was in an unmarked car.

The cop was off-duty and out of uniform.

The cop was out of his jurisdiction.

The cop did not present identification- he simply stated he was a cop without showing a badge or other ID.

Whether or not it was retaliation has yet to be determined. But even if it wasn't, the cop still made 4 major mistakes prior to the shooting. Foley had every right to doubt that the guy was a police officer and to feel threatened in that situation.

[HHURRICANE]

a grossly irresponsible assumption on you guys part

idk what went on any more than you but im sure as hell aint gonna start assuming the cop did it out of retaliation

All he had to do was call for backup. It's not like he didn't have time.

[slakjaw157]

Oh the story must be completly true because the media says so. They always report only the truth. YEAH RIGHT!

[PcA125]

There is no way that he needed to shoot him 3 times to restrain him... that BS

[JerseyBoofaloBills]

so all of you, who dont think the cop did it in retaliation or w.e..your telling me, that you wouldnt feel threatened if a guy who followed you, drew a weapon on you, an stated he was a policeman without showing anything, proof of badge or anything? c'mon, thats rediculous.

[The_Philster]

Oh the story must be completly true because the media says so. They always report only the truth. YEAH RIGHT!
That's all we have to go on, though. It's not like any of us were there..we have to go on what we're told. Besides, if anyone of celebrity status gets into any sort of legal trouble, the worst is usually gets told and assumed to be true. Going by the evidence given, the off-duty cop screwed up.

[Michael82]

The cop was in an unmarked car.

The cop was off-duty and out of uniform.

The cop was out of his jurisdiction.

The cop did not present identification- he simply stated he was a cop without showing a badge or other ID.

Whether or not it was retaliation has yet to be determined. But even if it wasn't, the cop still made 4 major mistakes prior to the shooting. Foley had every right to doubt that the guy was a police officer and to feel threatened in that situation.
Good post! :bf1:

[Mitchy moo]

he cop had a gun and wanted to get it off obviously but if someone is holding a gun, you back up and talk.

[Mitchy moo]

It just got worse for him now:

The Chargers officially ended the season for starting outside linebacker Steve Foley (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=4483) by placing him on the non-football injury list Monday, a day after he was shot near his San Diego home by an off-duty police officer.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=2></TD><TD width=65>http://espn.starwave.com/i/nfl/profiles/players/statsid/s4483.jpg</TD></TR><TR><TD width=2></TD><TD width=65>Foley</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
By going on the non-football injury list, Foley will not be able to collect his $1.65 million salary this season, which consists of a $775,000 base and an $875,000 roster bonus. Players placed on the non-football injury list usually don't collect their salary because the injury isn't related to the football field.
This was a particularly tough decision for Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, who signed Foley in 2004 in what was the start of building one of the NFL's top and most feared 3-4 defenses. Foley, who turns 31 next Monday, has 29 starts as a Charger and is considered one of the leaders on the team.

[Turf]

Not to say the cop was right, but the assumption is that he was white.
The whole white black thing being played again.
An NFL player with half a brain in his stupid ****ing head shouldn't have put himself in that position anymore than an off duty officer could easily have handled the entire situation differently. There was no reason to shoot him.

[Throne Logic]

so all of you, who dont think the cop did it in retaliation or w.e..your telling me, that you wouldnt feel threatened if a guy who followed you, drew a weapon on you, an stated he was a policeman without showing anything, proof of badge or anything? c'mon, thats rediculous.

The report stated that, during the first contact, he "identified himself as a police officer". How exactly do all of you know exactly what that means? Traditionally, when a police officer "identifies himself", it consists of verbally stating the fact while holding up a badge. How do any of you know there was no badge involved?

Furthermore, where did you guys (i.e. OpIv37) figure out how far they drove along? It does not state how far they traveled. Just for argument's sake, let's say he followed him for 5 miles. Just how long does it take to go 5 miles when moving at speeds of 90 mph? Do you really believe it realistic that this guy could have contacted the local police and had them catch up and be on scene in 3 minutes? Come on now. And, where the Hell did you guys determine that he never called for "backup".

Now, moving forward, let us assume that you are standing on a street with a 6'4" 265 lb drunk man aggressively advancing on you, what would you do? If I happened to be carrying a sidearm, I might just fire a couple warning shots, too. And if that didn't stop him? What do you do? Stand there and get physically mauled? How does this make sense?

Look, I'm not attempting to defend or criticize the actions of either the cop or Foley. What I'm annoyed with is the way so many of you take information that is at least third-hand and just fill in all the blanks so that you can jump in and start aggressively wagging your damned accusative fingers. It deeply concerns me that the media can fire so many of you up with a sketchy article with only a few details. Jeez, people, can't you step back and think for yourselves?

[JerseyBoofaloBills]

but we're going by different articles. just to comment on one of your arguments...what if you're standing there when a random guy who has followed you home says he's a cop an draws a weapon on you? cant really win this argument, two completely different stories. and cops who are off duty, dont usually just carry their badges around.

[ddaryl]

There was absolutly no reason for the cop to fire his weapon.

He was not being threatened and what he should of done is call for back up. The fact he was 20 miles outside his jurisdiction means this is a cop who was abusing his power as an officer of the law.

The officer should be terminated, and I believe he will be. We do not need renegade authority figures, he had many options but took all of this upon himself and made many obvious crucial mistakes.

[Michael82]

There was absolutly no reason for the cop to fire his weapon.

He was not being threatened and what he should of done is call for back up. The fact he was 20 miles outside his jurisdiction means this is a cop who was abusing his power as an officer of the law.

The officer should be terminated, and I believe he will be. We do not need renegade authority figures, he had many options but took all of this upon himself and made many obvious crucial mistakes.
Good post! :bf1:

[L.A. Playa]

on a side note there hav been 3 men arrested recently fr impersnating police officers in the Los Angeles area recently, they have been pulling motorists over so, just because someone says they are a cop and are not in a cop car means nothing out here