| | FORT WORTH, Texas -- No amount of money, it seemed, could
keep Ed Belfour out of jail.
The Dallas Stars goalie first offered Dallas police officers
$100,000, then $1 billion, if they would not jail him in connection
with a scuffle earlier this month at a hotel, according to the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram.
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| Belfour |
An arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the newspaper for
Tuesday's editions, describes the fan favorite who helped the Stars
win the Stanley Cup last season as intoxicated and combative,
spitting in one officer's face following his arrest.
Police had to spray Belfour with Mace, but the 34-year-old
continued to resist them, kicking two officers in the chest as they
tried to restrain him, according to the report.
It stated that later in the police cruiser, Belfour began
"begging" officers not to take him to jail by offering them
$100,000, then progressively higher amounts until reaching $1
billion.
Belfour was scheduled to appear March 29 before Dallas County
Criminal Court Judge Phil Barker on charges of misdemeanor assault
on a hotel security guard and resisting arrest.
After missing five games following his arrest, the goalie
returned on Saturday in Chicago, preserving a 2-2 tie. He then won
his 29th game of the season on Sunday against San Jose. He is among
the NHL's leaders with a 2.09 goals-against average.
Belfour has been apologetic to fans and the team since returning
to play. But the arrest documents paint a different picture of the
player following his appearance at The Mansion on Turtle Creek.
The goalie, who arrived with a woman who later left the Dallas
hotel, placed a 50-year-old employee in a headlock and kicked at
officers, prompting them to spray him with Mace.
Following his arrest, he continued to be uncooperative -- placing
his cowboy boots on the squad car's radio console despite police
orders to sit up and place his feet on the floor, according to the
affidavit. It stated that Belfour then vomited across his chest.
The document stated that Belfour began to kick wildly when
police tried to remove his feet from the console. After spitting at
one officer, Belfour struggled as others tried to restrain him and
then jerked backward, hyperextending one of the officer's thumbs.
At the jail, Belfour needed help to stand "due to his
intoxication" while he was being searched, and "became
combative" when officers tried to escort him to see a nurse, the
report stated. The player spent six hours in police custody before
being released on bond.
Belfour's spokesman, David Margulies, released a previous
statement in which the player apologized for the March 8 events and
declined further comment on his lawyers' advice.
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