UPDATE: You can read our original story below but please see the update at the bottom of this post as this has been a case of mistaken identity.
This story has it all: a potential case of mistaken identity, a Dallas Cowboys receiver in trouble, an arrest, and hopefully a Wawa iced tea.
Yes, another Dallas Cowboys player found himself in hot water this week -- or perhaps to be more accurate we should say former Cowboys player. WR Lucky Whitehead was cut from the Cowboys on Monday after reports of his arrest for shoplifting reached the team.
Of importance to Eagles fans: he reportedly shoplifted from a Wawa store in Virginia.
Sacrilege.
But that's not the strangest part of it. Whitehead is attempting to claim it wasn't him.
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Whitehead said he "didn't know about" the case in his home state of Virginia as he was escorted off the field by a member of the Cowboys' public relations staff after the first morning walkthrough practice Monday morning. He was released before the full workout in the afternoon.
Prince William County Police Sgt. Jonathan Perok said 25-year-old Rodney Darnell Whitehead Jr. was arrested around 1:30 a.m. June 22 for taking about $40 worth of food and drink from a convenience store.
Perok said he couldn't confirm that the man arrested was the Dallas receiver, but online records matched his name and birthdate. The Cowboys' media guide lists Whitehead's given first name of Rodney.
According to online records, a court date was missed July 6, leading to another charge. Another court date was set for Aug. 10.
Whitehead's agent, Dave Rich, called it a case of mistaken identity and disputed whether an arrest was made.
Rich said his client didn't arrive in Virginia until about 10 hours after the reported arrest, suggesting that either police had the wrong date on the report or that someone used Whitehead's name and address in Manassas, Virginia, where he played high school football.
The Cowboys moved swiftly in releasing Whitehead after two defensive players were arrested during the offseason.
Let this be a lesson to us all: always pay for that late-night shorti.
UPDATE: It may actually have been a case of mistaken identity! Per Ian Rapoport:
Per agent Dave Rich, all charges were dropped for former #Cowboys WR Lucky Whitehead. Warrant rescinded. Cops had the wrong guy.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 25, 2017
TMZ has more on the cops getting a fake name from the culprit:
We spoke with commonwealth's attorney, Paul Ebert, who says the case against Lucky Whitehead has been dropped after an internal investigation into the arrest.
Long story short ... Ebert says the man who was was only "verbally identified" by the arresting officer. The arrestee did not have an I.D. on him.
The man told cops he was Lucky Whitehead and gave them Lucky's information, Ebert says.
Cops reviewed surveillance video at the convenience store which showed the man was NOT Lucky.
Here is a statement from Sergeant Jonathan L. Perok:
Upon reviewing the June 22, 2017 arrest of an individual named "Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr.", the police department is confident that the man charged with petit larceny, and who is subsequently being sought on an active warrant for failure to appear in court, is not Lucky Whitehead of the Dallas Cowboys. The man charged on the morning of June 22 was not in possession of identification at the time of the encounter; however, did verbally provide identifying information to officers, which included a name, date of birth, and social security number matching that of Rodney Darnell Whitehead, Jr. Officers then checked this information through the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database. The DMV photo on file was then used to compare to the man who was in custody. Officers acted in good faith that, at the time, the man in custody was the same man matching the information provided. At this point, the police department is also confident in confirming that Mr. Whitehead's identify was falsely provided to police during the investigation. The police department is currently seeking the identity of the man involved in the incident. Since the identifying information provided by the arrestee during the investigation was apparently false, the police department is working with the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office to clear Mr. Whitehead from this investigation. The police department regrets the impact these events had on Mr. Whitehead and his family.
