Cowboys player arrested on felony charge after 'road rage incident'
Marquez White, a practice squad player for the Dallas Cowboys, has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon related to what he called a “road rage incident” that occurred last October.
White, a cornerback drafted in the sixth round in 2017 out of Florida State, was arrested June 15 for the incident, according KDFW-TV in Dallas.
White is out on $7,500 bail.
The incident happened when he was exiting the Dallas North Tollway in Plano, Texas. Another car was driving on the service road off the exit ramp.
White, who grew up in Dothan, Alabama, told his side of the story in an email to the local paper, the Dothan Eagle, published Monday.
“On the day of October 20th, 2017 I was involved in a road rage incident in which my life was threatened and resulted in me having to draw my weapon,” he wrote. “I was getting off of highway 121 onto the access road near Tennyson Parkway in Plano, Texas, where I was met by an aggressive driver. I was trying to get over to avoid running into the wall where the lanes merge, but he then increased speed forcing me to make the decision to either run into the wall or cut him off.
“I eventually made my way in front of him and he proceeded to ride very closely and aggressively on my tail. I hit the brakes to get him off of me and could then see him becoming very angry in my rear view mirror. He then sped up again and I hit my brakes again and after this time he pulled over to my driver side while still driving and proceeded to yell racial slurs such as the ‘N’ word while also threatening to kill me. Simultaneously while doing this he began to reach towards his glove box and that is when I flashed my weapon. He then hit the brakes, got behind me, and proceeded to follow me to my house. Upon arriving at my house I exited my car and went into my home as he sat outside and contacted the authorities.
“When the police got there I came downstairs on my own and gave them my side of the story. He admitted to tailing me and pulling to my driver side, but denied any of the things he said. They retrieved my weapon from my home for evidence and NO arrest was made that day. On June 14th, 2018 during practice I received a notice from the team that there was a felony warrant issued for my arrest for the October 20th incident.”
Ex-Northview, current Dallas Cowboys player Marquez White arrested after 'road rage' incident https://t.co/SvUnYMUEta pic.twitter.com/e5GrV5Thj2
— Dothan Eagle (@dothaneagle) July 9, 2018
“There were about 5 officers on the scene, but two weeks later a female officer contacted me from her personal phone number asking for me to come in to answer a few more questions. I initially agreed to come in, but I postponed this meeting after being advised to not speak without a lawyer present. She assured me that no lawyer was needed, but I was still not comfortable speaking without one present.
“I was informed that multiple letters were sent to my old address in Tallahassee, Florida, and that attempts were made to contact me, however I changed my number during the season. Me and my legal team believe strongly that this a personal attack on my image as well as the Star,” he concluded, referring to his team, the Cowboys.
The other driver said White pointed the gun at him, KDFW reported. Because of that, it went from a misdemeanor to a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“He’s shocked. He thought the incident was over. He reported and cooperated with police,” White’s attorney, Toby Shook, told KDFW. “He comes from a law enforcement family. His father had been a police officer. His uncle is an officer. He thought there was nothing to it. He thought he was the one in the right.”
White has no prior criminal history, according to KDFW.
The Cowboys signed White to a reserve/future contract on Jan. 1
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