Sandy MaloneNew Orleans, LA – A warrant was issued for the National Football League’s (NFL) Odell Beckham on Thursday morning for slapping a police officer on the butt in the locker room after the college football championship game (video below).
The video was filmed in the Louisiana State University (LSU) locker room of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Monday night while a police officer was telling the victorious players that they couldn’t smoke cigars inside, The Times-Picayune reported.
New Orleans police began investigating the incident after representatives of the Superdome contacted them about the video.
Shortly after the team returned to the locker room to celebrate beating Clemson University for the national championship title, a police officer was filmed telling LSU’s Damien Lewis to extinguish his stogie.
Behind him, the video showed the Cleveland Brown’s Beckham making fun of the officer.
Then Beckham hauled off and slapped the officer on the butt, the video showed.
The officer turned around and Beckham took a step back, but then he appeared to be making fun of the officer and goading him.
The NFL player started dancing and rapping and another man next to him started be-bopping along with the rhythm, the video showed.
Beckham, coincidentally, played for LSU in 2011 when they lost the national championship to Alabama in the Superdome.
Law enforcement sources said police initially sought a misdemeanor sexual battery charge against the football player since the blow had been delivered to the officer’s posterior, The Times-Picayune reported.
However, the judge declined it.
Police redrafted the warrant charging Beckham with a single count of simple battery and the judge approved it, The Times-Picayune reported.
They initially tried to charge the NFL player with misdemeanor sexual battery because that conviction cannot be expunged from an individual’s record, whereas a conviction for simple battery can later be expunged.
The Cleveland Browns released a statement that said they were aware of the incident and had been in touch with Beckham’s representatives, The Times-Picayune reported.
The Browns said in their statement that Beckham was cooperating with the authorities.
Beckham is also under investigation after a video went viral of him distributing wads of cash into the hands of LSU players during the on-field celebration, The Times-Picayune reported.
“We are aware of the situation regarding Odell Beckham Jr. interacting with LSU student-athletes and others unaffiliated with the team following the championship game Monday night,” LSU said in a statement on Wednesday. “Initial information suggested bills that were exchanged were novelty bills. Information and footage reviewed since shows apparent cash may have also been given to LSU student-athletes.”
LSU quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrows told ESPN that the cash Beckham handed him was real money.
“We were in contact with the NCAA and the SEC immediately upon learning of this situation in which some of our student-athletes may have been placed in a compromising position. We are working with our student-athletes, the NCAA and the SEC in order to rectify the situation,” LSU said.
Watch video of Beckham assaulting the officer here below: