A friend of Bears running back Cedric Benson who was present Saturday night when Benson was arrested for boating while intoxicated has offered a very different account of what happened than the police did.In an interview with David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune, Benson's friend, Elizabeth Cartwright , describes a scene in which several people, including Benson's mother, were enjoying themselves on his boat and posing no threat to anyone when a patrol boat approached and an officer asked Benson to take a sobriety test.
According to Cartwright, everything seemed fine until she heard Benson scream as a result of being pepper-sprayed. Cartwright says she heard Benson yell, "Please stop, Mom, make them please stop." Cartwright says she called her father and said, "Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis."
Cartwright's father says he did, in fact, call 911; police will not say whether they received the 911 call that Cartwright's father describes.
There are a lot of unanswered questions (for one thing, why didn't Cartwright just call 911 herself?), but it's clear that the story offered by police is not the only story we're going to hear in this case.
Previously on FanHouse:
Cedric Benson Arrested for Boating While Drunk, Pepper Sprayed in Austin
Cedric Benson Denies Wrongdoing and Accuses Police of Mistreating Him
Police: Cedric Benson Was Combative, Insulting and Cocky
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. Excuse me? The first question you have is why didn't she call 9-1-1 herself? Maybe she was distraught that the cops made an NFL player cry for mommy.
Benson gets arrested, everyone casts guilt on him, he claims the cops harassed him. Benson produced evidence, witnesses, and a story that makes him look like a little girl, and your first reaction is to question the actions of a witness? How about questioning the account of the police officers?
Posted at 10:50AM on May 7th 2008 by Horatio
2. The only thing that I'm concerned about is if he was actually pulled over six times by the Lower Colorado River Authority for a safety check. If that's correct, everything else about this incident is irrelevant and the charges should be thrown out. I think he might have a good case for a lawsuit and someone from the River Authority should face disciplinary action.
Posted at 11:27AM on May 7th 2008 by John Sneed
3. Benson has a chance now that he has a white friend to tell his side. There are a lot of jealous wannabe cops that get jobs like those that can't get real police jobs. I wonder what the Bears Coach will say if he finds out Benson did nothing wrong.
Posted at 11:30AM on May 7th 2008 by LB
4. LB, I don't think the Lovie Smith has rushed to any judgement yet. All he has said is he doesn't like hearing about any member of the Bears organization having any run in with the police. He also said he was waiting to get more details about the situation.
Posted at 12:51PM on May 7th 2008 by Tim
5. Sounds like some uptight, jealous cop saw a "black man" enjoying himself with friends and family on a 30 foot boat and thought it not right! Benson's a bad ass, the cop is not! And what is this drunken boating thing anyways? There's nothing better than a few drinks while floating on the water!
Posted at 2:14PM on May 7th 2008 by Josh Gooch
6. Frankly, I believe the cop's stories are quite fishy. They are certainly not beyond temptation to shade the truth and outright lie to attempt to justify their conduct. Just a jealous bunch of coppers angry to see a wealthy black man having a good time on a boat. It is what it is.
Posted at 3:06PM on May 7th 2008 by David
7. Why is it that she felt she needed to specify "my black friend?"
Posted at 3:44PM on May 7th 2008 by treysix
8. So he is getting beat up and he uses words like please? She calls daddy instead of 911..No one else calls anyone in a crowd of 15?
I dont know cause i wasnt there so im keeping an open mind like every one else should but i really dont believe anyone in this..cops,her or him
Posted at 5:23PM on May 7th 2008 by carl
9. Just a jealous bunch of coppers angry to see a wealthy black man having a good time on a boat. It is what it is.
Right they knew it was a wealthy black mans boat out of a crowd of 15 including some whites..they knew it was a 4th pick bust running backs boat..it is what it is..Keep an open mind if you can...no one in this is telling the truth
Posted at 5:26PM on May 7th 2008 by carl
10. LCRA cops are nobodys and id bet the cop was an aggie
Posted at 8:54PM on May 7th 2008 by joe
11. Imagine that! Police could be in the wrong again! Would anyone reall be surprised. Just think of what they get away with when a star isn't involved. Police abuse happens evryday and most times it isn't ever known about.
Posted at 9:49PM on May 7th 2008 by J. Garland Masincupp
12. 15 people on a 30 foot boat partying is gonna get ANYONE pulled over by the Water Patrol.Thats quite a crowd on a not so big boat!
Posted at 9:53PM on May 7th 2008 by jimbo
13. ok, here's why she wouldn't call 911 from her phone. If you call 911 from your cell phone, you are connected to your local 911 center in your home county. no matter if you are out of town or not.
Posted at 9:53PM on May 7th 2008 by Baji
14. Perhaps she didn't call 911 herself because she didn't have a phone on her at the time?!
Posted at 9:54PM on May 7th 2008 by Anthony
15. "..my BLACK friend is getting beaten up by the police." Notice that she admits that she knew NOTHING until she heard him scream after being pepper sprayed. Does she have any idea of what happened that lead to him being pepper sprayed? Semms not!! So, I guess she has NOTHING to asdd, does she. She may be able to REPEAT what others told her, but she herself KNOWS NOTHING. As far as Benson's mother, yeah, now there is an impartial witmness if I ever saw/heard of one! I hardly doubt, that they were just minding their own business, and the patrol comes up, pepper sprays him and then give him a soberity test for no reason. SOMETHING got their attention. Oh, that's right,...he's black. That's the answer for everything that goes wrong in a blacks life, racism. Hey, stand up, be a MAN (little crybaby.. "where's my mommy")and own up to your faults and get on with it. I know, no money or whatever in that.
Posted at 11:22PM on May 7th 2008 by rainman57
16. CED WASNT DOING ANYTHIG WRONG,AND I DONT THINK ANYONE WANTED TO CALL 911 WITH ALL THE NEGATIVE THAT WAS GOING ON AT THE TIME, AND YES I WOULD BET MY PAYCHECK LCRA ROBO COP WAS AN AGGIE.
Posted at 12:41AM on May 8th 2008 by Derald
17. Boatloads of people partying get pulled over by the cops on the Colorado River all the time. It's common. Latinos like me, whites, blacks and Asians. We all get pulled over if we draw attention to ourselves by doing things like make a lot of noise, look like we might be drinking, dancing around, playing the music loud, and things like that. But it's really rare that someone gets pepper sprayed unless they are really un-co-operative, or really drunk and menacing. I've partied on boats at Blythe, Needles, Parker Dam and Havasu. And neither me or any of my black friends have ever been pepper-sprayed or beaten up by the cops. But then we always cooperated when we were pulled over or questioned.
Posted at 3:17AM on May 8th 2008 by Johnny Cardenas
18. John Sneed, depending on your actions it's actually easy to get pulled over numerous times in a boat on the Colorado River. It's a partying area with boats speeding around, people on ski's, and boatloads of people partying, drinking and dancing around on board with loud music playing. A lot of boat accidents, and usually a drowning or two. The cops have their hands full. If you draw attention to yourself you get pulled over, whether you're white, black, latino, or asian. I've been pulled over a lot. It's no big deal. As long as you aren't too drunk or get hostile they just tell you to keep it cool and leave.
Posted at 3:25AM on May 8th 2008 by Johnny Cardenas
19. Anthony, I hope your post was a joke. Because if it wasn't it's really dumb. The question was why she called her dad and asked him to call 911 instead of calling 911 herself. It was aready assumed that she had a cell phone since she was able to call her dad from the boat.
And unless her dad happened to be at the Colorado River himself, when he called 911 it would connect with the 911 center in his town, not where she is.
Posted at 3:29AM on May 8th 2008 by Johnny Cardenas