The lawyer for Marlon Humphrey said Friday that he is "dumbfounded" that a warrant was issued for the arrest of the Baltimore Ravens cornerback and that he believes his client's case involving the alleged theft of a phone charger will be dismissed.
"This young man has 11 million reasons why not to steal a $15 cord," said Paul Patterson, Humphrey's lawyer.
The Ravens' first-round pick in 2017, Humphrey signed a four-year, $11.8 million deal with Baltimore before the season. He faces a charge of third-degree robbery (which involves using or threatening force), according to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
According to Patterson, Humphrey took an Uber and picked up what he thought was his iPhone charger. After they arrived at the hotel, the Uber driver escalated the situation and got in Humphrey's face.
The police report stated that Humphrey elbowed the driver in the side, "not leaving a mark or doing any personal injury," after the driver attempted to recover the charger. Humphrey damaged other property when leaving the vehicle, balled up his fist and "acted like he wanted to fight," according to the report.
"Marlon, to his credit, did not strike or try to fight with the Uber driver," Patterson said. "If Marlon Humphrey threw an elbow at someone, there would be some injuries."
According to Patterson, the Uber driver took Humphrey's friends home after dropping off Humphrey at the hotel. Humphrey didn't find out until later that a warrant had been issued.
"A policeman walks in, and Marlon says, 'It's my bad. This doesn't work on my phone. So, here, he must have my iPhone charger,'" Patterson said. "That is the case in a nutshell."
Patterson has requested a preliminary hearing, but no date has been set.
"This is not in the nature or character of Marlon Humphrey," Patterson said. "Everyone knows it. We fully anticipate that the Uber driver may be out for secondary gain. That's the sad thing."