It turns out that the Minnesota Timberwolves' Eddie Griffin's March 30th car accident may not have been related to his "dropping his cell phone." A new civil suit filed in Ramsey County, Minnesota by the owner of the parked vehicle that Griffin struck claims that the former Seton Hall star was drunk and distracted by the pornographic video playing on a monitor on his dashboard, and more specifically, that Griffin admitted to those around him that he was masturbating while driving. The Complaint filed by Jamal and Lindsey Hassuneh is not only brought against Griffin, but the City of Minneapolis, the responding officers, and the Chief of Police.After the accident, Griffin entered the nearby convenient store owned by the brother of Mr. Hassuneh. The store's security camera catches the rest. Multiple times on tape, Griffin admits that he is drunk and offers to buy the Hassuneh's any car, but "not a Bentley." He also pleads with the witnesses not to call 911 as he is "drunk." Upon arrival at the store, the responding officers do not give Griffin a field sobriety test, but instead, drive Griffin home (out of their jurisdiction) to St. Paul. The officers are caught on the store's camera stating "He is not going to get a DWI." The officers did issue Griffin minor violations for not producing his driver's license and inatentive driving.
The plaintiffs are not only seeking compensation for property damage, zone of danger damages, and punitive damages, but allege state and Federal violations against the officers, the Chief of Police, and the City of Minneapolis for violation of constitutional rights for failure to properly conduct an investigation into the incident and improper hiring and training of the responding officers. See accident report here.
Chief Dolan said that the Minneapolis Police Department is conducting its own investigation into the matter.
While the Timberwolves are not named as a party to the Suit, the Complaint addresses the fact that Kevin McHale (GM) was aware of Griffin's alcohol and drub abuse (Griffin spent time at Betty Ford in 2004), as well as his criminal background.
