10:03 pm | June 5, 2019 | Go to Source | Author: Gatorsports
By Andrew Caplan and Daniel Smithson
State Attorney Bill Cervone announced Wednesday that he wouldn’t prosecute University of Florida football player Lamical Perine for a battery against a tow truck driver stemming from a May 7 incident.
The Sun obtained a video of the incident Thursday that shows Perine outside in his underwear confronting the Superior Towing truck driver, as the driver prepares to tow Perine’s mother’s car.
Perine, a senior from Mobile, Alabama, uses vulgar language and slurs toward the man. At one point, Perine walks over and grabs the man’s shoulder, who turns, swinging a tire strap with a hook that was in his hand. A woman attempts to de-escalate the situation by telling the Perine to stop and go inside.
Perine then threatens to fight the drivers and urges them to call the cops, adding “cops know me (expletive).”
Perine was not arrested.
Superior Towing, reached late afternoon Thursday, would not make anyone available for comment.
Perine led the Gators in rushing last season with 826 yards and seven touchdowns. He also caught 13 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for more than 100 yards in wins over Vanderbilt and Florida State.
According to a news release from Cervone’s office Wednesday, there was a dispute over how much was owed to keep the vehicle from being towed. Perine was leaving to get money when the tow truck driver became “verbally confrontational” with Perine’s girlfriend and began to hook up the vehicle.
None of that is seen on the video, which can be seen at bit.ly/2YWTwVy.
The news release describes Perine’s touching of the driver as “brief and light,” more a tactic to get the driver’s attention than anything else.
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