I have ripped my first headline. Whether I can separate a story from it for my nefarious purposes remains to be seen, but what a yarn in the AA News tonight:
Seven Eastern Michigan University football players and one former player were arrested early Sunday after a series of parties in Ypsilanti turned into a donnybrook with police from three agencies, authorities said.
At one point, a female police officer was lifted nearly to the ceiling by a player, then body-slammed across the back of a couch as police tried to break up one of the parties, according to police reports.
The link’s worth following, if only to get a feel for how these situations get out of control, not to mention what sounds like some police sorely in need of major backup:
EMU Public Safety officers and Washtenaw County Sheriff’s deputies also responded to the scene. Police said the anger escalated when officers tried to ticket the player who lived in the apartment for a noise violation, and he refused to take the ticket. He swore at the female officer, she reported, so she threw the ticket into the apartment as police tried to back out.
When he tried to go at the officer, another player first tried to hold him back, police said, but then he tried to charge another female officer.
The first officer tried to spray the second player with pepper spray, but said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound player hoisted her nearly to the ceiling in a bear hug, then slammed her back and shoulder into the back of a sofa while she screamed for help.
It sounds like it was fortunate they didn’t have a riot on their hands.
Oh, and just in case you’re tut-tutting at the sensational media coverage, rest assured: They put it on the metro page, not out front where it belonged. You couldn’t find it on the website with a magnifying glass. Move along, nothing to see here.