Marshawn 'Money' Lynch Faces no Charges for Alleged $20 Theft

by Alicia Cruz
Editor-in-Chief
Theblackurbantimes

A complaint that was filed in Hamburg, New York alleging that Buffalo Bills running back, Marshawn Lynch stole $20 from a police officer’s wife at a TGI Fridays restaurant is no longer a "police matter", according to Detective Sgt. Thomas Best Jr of the Hamburg Police Department.

Buffalo, New York Police Sergeant William Crawford, the husband of the alleged victim, said his wife and a friend had been eating at a TGI Friday's restaurant and were preparing to leave when Lynch and an unnamed Buffalo Bills player approached the women. As the officer's wife, Molly Crawford retrieved a $20 bill from her wallet Lynch suddenly took the money from her hand.

When Crawford told her husband of the incident, he immediately filed a report and claims 10 days later, a letter with $20 arrived in his mailbox.

In his statement about the alleged theft, Sgt. Crawford said, "(Lynch) takes the $20 out of her hand, and my wife says “What are you doing?’ and Lynch says “Don’t worry.’ When my wife’s girlfriend came back to the table, she told her about it. The girlfriend approached Lynch and said, “Give my friend her money back,’ and Lynch threatened her saying “Do you know who I am? There’s going to be consequences.’ At that point, my wife and her girlfriend left," Crawford said.

On Monday, Hamburg Detective Sgt. Thomas Best Jr. said, "There's a fine line between a guy doing something criminal and acting like a jerk, and that is what we are dealing with here."

According to Sgt. Best, Crawford's wife told police her husband has taken out of context how Lynch took the $20 from her at the TGI Friday restaurant and has declined to press charges against 23-year-old Lynch.
"What's happening between Mr. Crawford and Mr. Lynch is their business," Best said. "This incident is no longer considered a police matter."

Though Crawford's wife has declined to press charges against the NFL star, but her says he is seriously considering a defamation of character lawsuit against Lynch's sports agent, Doug Hendrickson, for a statement he issued Saturday where he claimed his client never took money from the Detective's wife and blasted him for saying so.

"In the laws that I follow, that's (Lynch taking the $20) called robbery. What his agent is saying about me is defamation."

Mark Carney, Crawford's attorney, says he will be meet with Crawford and his wife to discuss a number of issues, including a possible defamation lawsuit.

Crawford and his lawyer claim that he has become the victim of a smear campaign to diminish Lynch's behavior in taking money that wasn't his.

In an e-mail to The Buffalo News, Hendrickson defended his earlier statement defending his client saying, "Based upon information we've received, these allegations against Marshawn are false and ... malicious. It's also been reported that Crawford owes the City of Buffalo roughly $100,000 for a dilapidated building ... "

Crawford's response to Hendrickson's "dilapidated building" statement was that a corporation he was involved with had owned a building in the Cobblestone District that the city tore down after it was damaged by wind. He says he does not personally owe the city money for the demolition expenses.

Lynch, who is the cousin of former Raiders Quarterback JaMarcus Russell, has had a string of serious run-ins with the law beginning in early 2007 when Lynch was accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend. The former girlfriend claimed the incident occurred in December 2006 outside of her home in Emeryville, California. The Alameda County DA declined to press charges, citing a lack of evidence and "grave inconsistencies" in the "alleged victim's accusations." Two months later, a judge in Alameda County dismissed a restraining order against Lynch that his former girlfriend had taken out against him citing that the order had been improperly obtained.

A year later, Lynch was after his 2008 Porsche Cayenne hit and injured a woman in Buffalo, New York on May 31, 2008. Police say Lynch left the scene. His trial lasted several weeks and Lynch dodged criminal charges after a Buffalo police officer testified that the victim "did not suffer severe physical injury."

Instead the Applebee's loving running back pled to failure to exercise due care to avoid striking a pedestrian, paid a $100 fine, and had his driver’s license and car registration revoked. The woman he hit sued him in 2009 for negligence.

In February 2009, days after his Pro Bowl appearance, Lynch was arrested in Culver City, California. Police approached a 2006 Mercedes Benz that Lynch and two men were sitting in when they smelled marijuana emanating from the vehicle. Police searched the vehicle and discovered a loaded handgun that was later determined to belong to Lynch.

23-year-old Lynch was charged with felonies initially, but he had those charges reduced to three misdemeanors. No drug charges were filed and Lynch later pled guilty to a single misdemeanor gun charge for which he is currently serving out a three year probation sentence for. Though Lynch escaped the more serious charges, he was later suspended for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.