Fuller: No offer made
The Browns' defensive back said he did not offer police $5,000 for his release.
By PHIL NOVAK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BEREA -- Cleveland Browns defensive back Corey Fuller denied allegations in a police report that says he offered police officers $5,000 for his release.
"I'm in the car, I'm in the station, what am I going to offer the money to him for at that point?" Fuller said. "I'm not walking around with $5,000 in my pocket. What am I going to do, write a check?"
Saturday night, Fuller was trying to ask a police officer to allow him to make a turn into the Flats in Cleveland. He missed the correct entrance.
Arrested: Police said Fuller asked officers to allow him to cross an intersection, but the police would not allow him. Police said Fuller then refused to move his car and blocked traffic for 8 minutes before he was arrested and given a ticket for impeding the flow of traffic and obstructing official business.
But Fuller said he never had a chance to ask the question.
"All I wanted to know was how can I get to my family in the Flats from this way I never went," Fuller said. "That's all I wanted to know, a question I never got to ask.
"All I wanted to know was a different way to go. The way I was going, I had never been that way. I think the situation was magnified not because I played for the Cleveland Browns, but because you guys think I really did something."
Report differs: The police report says Fuller twice offered to pay $5,000 for his release. The police department's intelligence unit is investigating the allegations.
Police Cmdr. Charles McNeeley, who escorted two Browns executives to the scene of Fuller's arrest, was suspended one day for his involvement. Police officials declined to say why. McNeeley works security part-time for Browns games.
Fuller said he regretted that the situation happened and he was sorry he let down the kids, the city, the team and the community. He is scheduled to be in court on Thursday.
Browns coach Butch Davis said the team would take disciplinary action if warranted, but it would be handled internally.