Attorney says Aaron Donald was not the aggressor in South Side incident

Pitt alum and NFL star Aaron Donald was recently accused of assault, but his attorney, Casey White, said on Friday that Donald was not the aggressor in the incident, and he has video evidence and multiple witnesses to support Donald's version of events.

White said in an interview on 93.7 The Fan that the incident occurred at a party in Pittsburgh's South Side on Sunday, and it started when his client was elbowed in the back by DeVincent Spriggs, the man who accused Donald of assault on Wednesday. White said that the accuser appeared to be intoxicated and acted aggressively toward Donald, and as a result, he was escorted out by others onto a street in the South Side called Wrights Way.

"A short time later, Aaron and his brother, they go outside," White said during the interview. "Mr. Spriggs is still there. They walk out into a dark alleyway, and you'll see this in the surveillance video. ... Mr. Spriggs starts walking toward Aaron, and he's yelling and he's drunk and he's aggressive. And Aaron sees something in his right hand. ... It's a long liquor bottle. This guy goes at Aaron and swings."

White said Spriggs struck Donald in the head with the bottle. This prompted others to defend Donald, who was pulled away from the situation and restrained. When Donald broke free, White said he pulled people away from Spriggs, which prevented further injury.

"So there's no dispute that Mr. Spriggs is injured," White said. "But the other people that were there that night on Wrights Way were responsible, I guess, for protecting Mr. Donald and, in turn, causing injuries to Mr. Spriggs."

Donald’s attorney noted that there are five witnesses to corroborate Donald’s story, and the surveillance video that he said supports Donald’s version of events was released by Cara Sapida of WPXI on Friday morning.

Spriggs and his attorney, Todd Hollis, said they intended to file assault charges against Donald in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Spriggs claimed that Donald and others assaulted him after he bumped into Donald at an after-hours club. He said the incident occurred around 3 a.m. on Sunday, and his injuries included a broken arm, a concussion and a swollen eye.

Donald plays for the Los Angeles Rams and went to Pitt from 2010 to 2013. He is known to spend offseasons in Pittsburgh, where he works out at Pitt’s facility on the South Side.