Whenever there is a sports story locally, you can glean a lot of information from the area radio talk show hosts as well as from original sources.  Such has been the case with the Steve Foley case, right here in San Diego.  For those of you who have not followed this incident, it made headlines here as well as nationally on ESPN.  Steve Foley, one of the Charger’s linebackers, was involved in a late night mishap in which he was shot by an off duty officer.  I have waited for quite a while to post anything on this until I made up in my own mind whose fault it truly was.  I may differ from some of our own fellow bloggers, but I shall try to defend my decision and lay out the reasons why I think the only person to blame in this case was Steve Foley.

 

The facts of the case as we know it from the AP wire are as follows:

• Foley was driving home late at night, speeding and driving erratically.
• An off duty officer followed him, presumably to arrest him and to prevent any accidents.
• Foley drove home, which was a cul de sac, and there he and his girlfriend decided to accost this officer of the law.
• The policeman identified himself several times, but never showed his badge.
• He fired his revolver several times hitting Foley in the leg, hip, and hand.
• Foley was drunk, 0.223, according to alcohol tests that were performed.
• Foley has pleaded guilty to alcohol related driving.
• Foley refused to testify on behalf of his girlfriend with him that night.

 

Steve Foley made several bad decisions that evening, including drinking and driving.  The officer who pulled him over also made some mistakes but in his defense, I in no way blame him for shooting Steve Foley.  Foley was warned to stop and he didn’t.  Foley claimed he did not believe the gun was real, but my guess is that was the alcohol talking because Officer Mansker fired into Foley’s car to stop the driver, Lisa Maree Gaut from hitting him.  He also fired into the dirt to warn Foley and yet the football player continued to advance towards him.  Even after the officer shot him in the knee, he continued to come at him.  I don’t know about you, but if someone pulls a gun on me and tells me to stop, I am going to stop.  It sounds like to me that maybe Foley had been borrowing some of Merriman’s supplements and was on a roid rage.

 

Police officers are trained to shoot.  They have to obtain firearm ratings and at the close range in which this happened, I have no doubt that Officer Mansker could have killed Foley if he had wanted to, but he didn’t.  That speaks volumes to me about this officer’s character.  If he wanted to get back at Steve Foley as some have suggested, then why not shoot to kill?  It would have been a very easy thing to do.  If I was a police officer and any NFL linebacker was barreling down on me late at night, I would have shot without hesitation.  In my opinion, Mansker used extreme caution and restraint.  Dirty Harry he was not.

 

Lastly, Lisa Maree Gaut ,(Foley's ladyfriend for the evening) tried to run down this police officer in Foley's car.  Her character is not exactly upstanding.  She had stolen a car and was on probation at the time of this incident.  If she was innocent, why didn’t Foley testify on her behalf.  He hung her out to dry in her trial, and now he has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving in an alcohol related offense.  He is not denying he was drunk which just confirms to me that the officer had every right to follow him and try to pull him over.  That is what we expect from police officers, even off duty ones.  It is their job to serve and protect.

Foley has had many run-ins with the police and by now he should have learned how to respond when an officer asks you to stop.  It is a tragedy because his playing career is over and it could have been avoided.   If Foley wants to give back, maybe he could stand up and take responsibility for his actions and teach other NFL players that there are consequences for one’s actions.  Unfortunately, he is learning this the hard way. 

 

SoCalSportsFan