A man with two knots on his forehead and a chipped tooth spoke to the media on Tuesday evening about filing, along with two other people, a lawsuit against Miami Dolphins center Mike Pouncey and his twin brother, Maurkice.
On Saturday, New Times broke the story of Riquan James, 24, better-known as Ricky Vasquez, who took to Instagram saying he got swung on by the big brothers.
"All I can remember," he says in a series of videos, some of which have since been deleted, "is standing in a crowded club and this big guy keeps hitting me in my back, I look at him, and I'm like, OK, he's obviously turned up. And he just keeps hitting me. I ignore it. I keep ignoring the guy -- he's calling me a faggot. I realize that there's two of the guys. Now they're both in my face. The next thing I know, Honey tries to break it up. One of them punches Honey in the face, the other one punches me or the same one, I don't know. Security comes."
See also: Mike Pouncey and Brother Assaulted Man at Cameo Nightclub Last Night, Victim Claim
James said yesterday that he entered Cameo around 4 a.m. Saturday and soon saw the Pounceys shoving a group of folks. Eventually, James was close enough to the action to feel it, and he asked whomever was deliriously pounding on him to stop.
It didn't go over so well. From the Miami Herald:
"I heard a series of slurs from the Pouncey brothers, referring to me as less than a man, a f-----, a b----," said James. "I assume me asking them not to touch me rubbed them the wrong way."Then someone turned me around, and one of the Pouncey brothers hit me in the face," he added. "A gang of guys hit me. To protect myself from being really injured, I crawled up into a fetal position, until I got thrown out [of the club]."
At some point, his friend Pickett got hit, and Williams -- who didn't know James or Pickett prior -- later put up a photo of her leg wrapped in bandages with the caption: "This is what happens when 300lb men fight in the club. About to go get stitches."
Williams and Pickett confirmed they were both injured. From WSVN:
"Right now, I still can't see," said Pickett. "My left eye is like a shadow, like the left side of my eye. I have bad headaches right now. When he hit me, everything went black.""The fight actually knocked me over a set of tables that were filled with tall glasses," said Williams. "I fell to the floor and suffered a cut that I had to get nine stitches in."
Still, there remain some hurdles to the case and where it goes from here. According to Miami Beach Police Sgt. Bobby Hernandez, the people involved in the incident haven't all talked to police.
One reason no charges have been filed, per MBPD: Neither the victims nor witnesses have come in to make a statement since night of incident.
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 15, 2014Sgt. Hernandez: "We need them to come forward & speak to invest. We've been anxiously awaiting that since they made the allegations on Sat."
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 15, 2014Part of the reason for that may be to pressure Cameo into releasing security footage from Saturday, which it currently hasn't. That fact -- whether it's excuse-making or explanation-creating -- made many call BS, just on its face.
Victims won't talk to police about Pouncey incident, yet willing to sue...sniff sniff I smell BULL$#!¥
— Thomas Galicia (@thomasgalicia) July 15, 2014Mind you, I'm not one to cape for Mike Pouncey, I'm probably his biggest critic (especially his off the field activities) BUT...
— Thomas Galicia (@thomasgalicia) July 15, 2014So interested in this one story just to see how it's going to play out cause it's bull shit
— Lucy (@AshleyVsLucy) July 15, 2014No judge in his right mind is going to award them money he think erasing IG videos was doing something they can be recovered
— Lucy (@AshleyVsLucy) July 15, 2014What remains on social media from the night of the incident is still really interesting, though. A friend of one of the victims has a damning running account of events:
"VIP section next to them" I guess the Pounceys are quadruplets.. cuz those two dudes were def them.. why lie ..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014Those dudes are to big to be fighting in the club.. to much to lose..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014callin the boy a faggot is a problem.. then multiple niggas jumped him.. a girl was hit ..and @LikeBentley has a big ass leg gash..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014big ass niggas fell on her from jumping the boy.. glass shattered.. and her leg was gashed open.. umm what is there to defend?
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014y'all gotta do better.. fuck all the football shit..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014y'all actin like the girl tried to fight the Pounceys she was trying to PREVENT it before it started.. and they started swinging..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014pouncey boys need to control their temper.. my dawg leg fucked up because of their hot headed ass..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014I was there.. they were outta line for that shit..
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014big ass football playin niggas need to know how to control themselves !! fightin in the fuckin club ..WTF
— Hi. I'm Amber... (@imcaramelnotred) July 12, 2014With the promise of a lawsuit coming this week, Pouncey's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, was quick to strike back, promising his own damned lawsuit.
Just heard from the Pouncey's attorney, Jeff Ostrow, who said the accusations against the players are "lies." Full statement ...
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 16, 2014Ostrow: "Mike and Maurkice were not involved in any altercation with the accuser or anyone else that night and did nothing wrong. ..."
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 16, 2014Ostrow, cont: "It appears that the accuser is an opportunist seeking attention and possible financial gain."
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 16, 2014"Any attempt by the accuser or anyone else to bring an action against them based upon these false allegations will be vigorously defended."
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 16, 2014Ostrow, concluded: "If the accuser continues to perpetuate these lies, we will bring an action against him."
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) July 16, 2014It should be noted, though, that Ostrow has a history of getting out in front of stories. Last year at this time, when his client rocked a "Free Hernandez" hat during a birthday bash at Cameo (sound familiar?), he told Lifestyle Publications there was nothing to see here at all.
"Knowing Mike as well as I do, I am certain he realizes that he exercised poor judgement at his birthday party," Pouncey's long-time friend, and attorney Jeff Ostrow told Lifestyle. "Obviously, the point of the hats was to show loyalty to a friend -- and nothing more. It is not possible that there was any ill will and the photo could not have been intended to hurt or offend anyone. People that know Mike and Maurkice know that they do not have a bad bone in their bodies."
In that same story, angled around Mike Pouncey's desire to be the face of the Miami Dolphins, there's this prescient quote:
"I think the most interesting part of being one of the guys considered the face of the football team is being professional on and off the football field, Pouncey said in June. "The biggest thing about it is that you're the guy that's going to be answering all the questions when the media comes, you're the first guy they see off the bus, you're the guy talking after games. I think that's something that guys, not saying they have a hard time doing it, but it is a workload. I think being the face of a football team is more than just playing football. I think it's about the work you put in off the football field, community service, and how you carry yourself as a human being. And obviously you have to have high character."
Yeesh.
We'll continue to update this story as litigation and the police investigation continue.
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