NFL Star – Nate Allen – Sues Fort Myers Police Department

Nate Allen, formerly with the Philadelphia Eagles until free agency brought him to the Oakland Raiders this winter, was detained by police in February of this year. A 16 year old girl had called police and stated she saw a person in a black truck driving and masterbating. The police found Allen in his black truck some time after and detained him.

It turns out that Allen was not masterbating in his truck because at the time of the call he was eating dinner at Red Lobster and taking photographs with the staff. Yet, that didn’t stop the police from prematurely releasing the information and putting Allen through some public embarrassment. This wasn’t good for him, since last was the final year of his contract and players have recently lost their jobs for off field antics. Having to negotiate with teams while that potential issue hung over his head obviously was not to his advantage.

Now that his name is officially cleared, Allen, with the help of his attorney’s, is taking the fight to the city of Fort Myers. According to TMZ Sports:

Allen’s lawyer, Sawyer Smith, tells TMZ Sports … Allen wants to make sure no other citizens go through the horrible experience he did, that’s why he’s chosen to sue.

Smith, who has sent a letter of intent to sue to Fort Myers Police says, “he’s a fighter, and he’s going to stand up for this community and its residents to have a fair shake when they interact with law enforcement.”

Bravo to Nate Allen for taking on this fight. It might not be the most egregious case of police misconduct but this is how you remind police that they’ll be held accountable for their actions. If you want to detain someone, leak a story about charges and attempt to punish someone before an investigation is complete, then you might have some repercussions for such actions.

I’ll keep you posted as this story progresses.