OXNARD, Calif. _ One day after the Dallas Cowboys finally got fed up with repeated bad behavior and got tough on crime, it proved to indeed be the case of bad behavior.
Receiver Lucky Whitehead, cut by the Cowboys after reports surfaced that he was arrested for petty theft and had a warrant out for failure to appear, was exonerated by police in Virginia.
The charges have been dropped and the warrant has been rescinded as it was indeed a case of mistaken identity, as Whitehead claimed all along.
Whitehead's agent Dave Rich is glad his client's name has been cleared, but he believed his client all along.
"Lucky Whitehead is fast, but he is not fast enough to be in two states at the same time," Rich said.
Rich also wonders who the Cowboys talked to as they conducted their own investigation and decided Whitehead was not telling the truth, ultimately resulting in his release.
The Cowboys, however, have no regrets about their decision to release Whitehead.
"Yesterday we made a decision that we deemed to be in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys," coach Jason Garrett said. "We're standing by that decision and we're going to move on."
Garrett repeated that line regarding the team's plans to move on.
Asked if the false arrest and mistaken identity should make a difference, Garrett didn't budge, while intimating that it was final decision was because of cumulative acts.
"We know a lot of things about our players that you guys don't know," Garrett said. "Guys _ we made a decision yesterday that we thought was in the best interest of our team. In evaluating the particular situation and the context of that situation, we felt like we made a decision in regards to Lucky that was right for our team. We stand by that decision."
Garrett added: "I think the best thing for Lucky is to have a clean slate and he'll have a new opportunity somewhere else. That's good for him and, again, it's in the best interest of our football team."
Police in Virginia confirmed Tuesday that Whitehead was not the man who they cited for shoplifting at a convenience story June 22. The man did not have identification at the time of arrest and gave them Whitehead's name, birth date and social security number.
The officer's then confirmed the identity through the department's database.
The big problem, according to Rich, is that Whitehead has a Texas driver's license.
The apology is too late for Whitehead and his employment with the Cowboys. But it does clear his name as he tries to land a job with another team.
