Police say they are investigating the Josh Shaw case for a possible domestic violence incident that may have occurred between the USC cornerback and his girlfriend last weekend.
Shaw’s story became national news after he fabricated a tale about how he injured both of his ankles last weekend. Shaw told USC — and the school later publicized the story — that he hurt his ankles jumping off a balcony to save his nephew from drowning. After multiple sources told USC that account was not true, Shaw finally admitted he lied about how he got hurt. He has since been suspended indefinitely by the team.
Shaw’s lawyer did say that the senior defensive back hurt himself falling off a third-floor balcony at the Orsini apartments in downtown Los Angeles, nearby the USC campus. A witness in the apartment complex told police she heard a scream from inside an apartment and then saw a man “shimmying” down the side of the building. It sounds like that man was Shaw.
According to The Los Angeles Times, police officers went to the apartment in response to the call. Here’s what The Times says happened:
The officers then broke open the door and conducted a brief search, but found no one inside. Officers noticed that “the window had been pried open,” she said.
Faden said witnesses told police they had seen a man with dreadlocks climbing from the third-floor balcony of the apartment. The woman who resides in the unit then arrived on the scene.
The woman, who is believed to be Shaw’s girlfriend, told police the description matched that of Shaw, who also lives in the building.
[Related: Shaw asked USC to make change to fabricated hero story]
Shaw has already been interviewed by police twice and has been advised by his lawyer not to speak with them anymore. Shaw’s girlfriend apparently did not indicate to police that she was a domestic violence victim.
As we have been saying for a few days here at LBS, it looks like Shaw fled the apartment after a domestic incident with his girlfriend and got hurt climbing down the side of the building.
