Tom GantertAnn Arbor, MI – A college basketball player at the University of Michigan gave police a fake name after he was involved in a crash of a car owned by the wife of the college’s athletic director.
Zavier Simpson told Ann Arbor police officer on Jan. 26 that he was Jeff Jackson Simpson, according to a police report, MLive reported.
Simpson drover the athletic director’s family car into a utility pole just hours after a game, MLive reported.
When police arrived at 303 a.m., Simpson was outside of the vehicle, according to the police report. (Video below)
Simpson first told police that he was walking down a street when he noticed the crashed vehicle and also gave a fake name.
“I’m not sure, but the kid was running down the block there,” Simpson said to a police officer about who was driving the car, MLive reported.
The police officers realized that Simpson gave them a fake name and recognized him as a basketball player for the University of Michigan while in their cruiser. An officer got a photo of Simpson on his cell phone so he could compare it to the man who gave him a different name. The officer then asked Simpson why he lied about his name.
“You don’t think we know you? We’re not stupid,” a police officer told Simpson, according to MLive. “You can’t lie to a police officer about your name. That’s against the law, actually.”
“Yeah, I know that,” Simpson said.
“We can arrest you for that,” the officer said, according to MLive.
Simpson told the police he didn’t want to be involved in the police report.
He also told police that the car belong to Evan Manuel, who is the son of U-M athletic director Warde Manuel. Evan Manuel is also a student manager for the basketball team.
Police later spoke with Chrislan Manuel, the wife of the athletic director. The mother than spoke to her son who told her that Simpson was the driver of the car.
On Feb. 5, Simpson told an investigator he drove the car into a utility pole due to icy conditions, MLive reported.
Simpson also told police he was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the accident. Police gave him a ticket for driving too fast under the conditions.
He was also suspended from one game over the incident.
Simpson is in his fourth year at Michigan. He is average 13.0 points per game this year.
Watch the video here: