Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman was reportedly smoking synthetic marijuana before he was involved in a hit-and-run that left another driver seriously injured back in October.
The Seattle Times reports that police turned over their investigation to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Monday and recommended that Coleman be charged with felony hit-and-run and vehicular assault. In a 101-page police report that was made public, officers described Coleman as “calm and cooperative,” but witnesses who claim to have spoken to the 25-year-old immediately after the crash say he was “delirious and aggravated.” One witness who helped Coleman from the car described him as “incoherent.”
Officers tracked Coleman down two blocks away from the scene of the accident roughly 20 minutes after it happened. He was barefoot and allegedly struggled with a field sobriety test. Police say Coleman had “a lighter, a glass spoon pipe with tarry residue, an opened bag of synthetic cannabinoid and three unopened bags of synthetic cannabinoids” in his possession.
Citing the same police report, TMZ notes that Coleman admitted to officers that he smoked spice, which is another word for synthetic marijuana. Officers claim they also found THC hard candies and two knives — one with a thigh strap to holster it — in his vehicle.
Coleman’s attorney, Stephen W. Hayne, has taken a hard stance against any allegations of drug use, saying back in October that there is “no way on God’s green earth that Derrick Coleman was under the influence of anything.” His agents, Derrick Fox and Mark Bloom, said that Coleman “may have fallen asleep” on the drive home from the Seahawks’ facility.
Hayne also claimed in the aftermath of the accident that Coleman’s hearing aid may have come dislodged, which resulted in the fullback becoming disoriented. Coleman is legally deaf, which we learned when we brought us this inspirational moment at the Super Bowl two years ago.
Synthetic marijuana has become increasingly popular among athletes, in part because it is undetectable on most drug tests. The substance Coleman was allegedly found to be in possession of is similar to the one Chandler Jones supposedly used before he went bonkers a couple weeks back.
