Plummer ticketed in road rage allegation

[Angel]

Plummer ticketed in road rage allegation


By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News
May 24, 2006

Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer was ticketed for destruction of property for an alleged road-rage confrontation with another motorist last month, Englewood police said Tuesday.
"It was unsportsmanlike conduct," said the alleged victim, Doug Stone, of the quarterback's behavior on April 20.

"I know he's under a lot of pressure, and he just has a lot of competition now," said Stone, referring to first-round draft pick Jay Cutler, the Vanderbilt quarterback selected two days after the alleged incident.

Englewood police issued a summons Friday to Plummer at his Cherry Hills Village home.

According to a news release, police said Plummer's Honda Element had rear-end damage that was consistent with the damage sustained by the Ford Ranger truck driven by Stone.

Stone said the confrontation occurred when he was driving west on West Hampden Avenue and he saw the driver of a gray Honda snaking through traffic and cutting off three other motorists. As the traffic approached South Downing Street, Stone said, the Honda driver cut in front of him.

When they reached the red light at Downing, Stone said the Honda had stopped ahead of him.

"I laid on my horn to give him notice I didn't appreciate him cutting me off as he did the other drivers that I had witnessed," Stone, 47, said.

Stone's honking apparently set off the other driver.

"He had jumped out of his car and kicked my truck and said, 'Stay off my a--,' " Stone recalled. "And he jumped back in his Honda, put his Honda in reverse and backed into my truck. He tried pushing me backward."

When the light turned green, the driver sped away. Stone said that after the confrontation he decided to pull off the highway, where he was joined by a witness who had copied down the license-plate number of Plummer's Honda. Stone then called the police to report the incident.

Stone said he did not recognize Plummer as the man who was behind the wheel and who kicked his truck until he saw a police report identifying the quarterback as the alleged culprit. A big reason for that was that Plummer no longer had his game beard on.

"I thought the guy was about 19 or 20 years old, and he lived with his parents," Stone said.

Plummer, 31, who was driving with his girlfriend as a passenger, denied any wrongdoing and claimed Stone hit his Honda from behind, Stone said.

Stone said that had he known the Broncos quarterback was the Honda driver he would not have honked at him.

"I think he's an all-around good person from the things I heard and the way he conducts himself in his hometown and in Denver," Stone said.

Neither Plummer nor his agent could be reached for comment late Tuesday.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4722609,00.html

 

[Angel]

More info on the incident......

Plummer denies road-rage incident
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Denver Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer insists he's not a hothead and denies backing into another motorist's vehicle in a road rage incident last month.

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Plummer said Wednesday the other driver bumped his tailgate at a red light in south suburban Denver after zipping through traffic on his way to deliver a check to charity on April 20.


He acknowledged cutting off the other motorist while talking on his cell phone.


"I waved in my rearview mirror and even said sorry. And all I heard was incessant honking. When I pulled up to the light, I felt a bump on the back of my tailgate, which was very surprising," Plummer said.


He said he got out of his 2005 Honda Element to check for damage. Finding none, he got back into his truck, drove away when the light changed and called 911 to report the incident.


"It wasn't like he smashed into me. It was more like a tap to say, 'Hey, you cut me off.' So I let 911 know and I took off and had to get to my function," Plummer said.


Police told him they have no record of his call but Plummer said he'll show investigators his cell phone records to prove it.


Plummer was issued a summons for a misdemeanor city violation of "injure or destroy property," similar to criminal mischief under state law. The summons orders Plummer to appear at Englewood's Violations Bureau between June 2 and June 15.


The pickup driver, Douglas Stone, 47, of Denver, did not return a call from The Associated Press. He told KDVR-TV in Denver he did not realize the other driver was Plummer.


Plummer, Denver's quarterback for three seasons, has received unwelcome attention before. In 2004, he flashed an obscene gesture to a heckler in the home crowd. When a newspaper columnist identified his girlfriend last year, he called the columnist and criticized Broncos fans. He later apologized and said he likes being Denver's quarterback.


Plummer said this latest incident shouldn't affect his reputation.


"When football season comes, I don't think anybody's going to be saying, 'Oh yeah! I remember that road rage thing.' They're not going to care," he said.


"It's a matter of how we play ball and go on, and image tarnished, whatever, role model, blah blah blah, I'm here to play football and win games and whatever happens, that's what I've got to deal with," he said.


Learning to control his temper is not an issue, either, Plummer suggested.


"I'm not concerned one bit with that. I'm very calm," he said. "There's no anger management problems with me, no."


In this latest incident, "I wasn't angry one bit until he bumped me in the back of my car," Plummer said.


According to a police report, witnesses said a man later identified as Plummer got out of the Honda at the stoplight and said something to Stone. The comments aren't in the report. Plummer denied saying anything to Stone.


The other driver then returned to the Honda, backed into the pickup and left when the light changed, the report said, quoting witnesses.


One witness wrote down the Honda license plate, which police traced to Plummer.


Police investigator John Hoehler said the officer in charge of the case did not contact Plummer until last week because he was busy with other matters.


Plummer said he was surprised when he was contacted by police on Friday because "it was a month after everything had transpired."


The police report said Plummer's car had $200 to $300 in damage and Stone's pickup had about $25 damage to its front license plate holder.


On Wednesday, Plummer said he didn't notice any damage at the scene because the trucks were pressed against each other bumper to bumper.


Asked if he backed up into the other truck, Plummer said, "From the story I just told you, I think that would be impossible for that to happen."

http://www.theredzone.org/news/showarticle.asp?ArticleID=4012