Aaron Donald receives apology from attorney for accusation

NFL star and Pitt alum Aaron Donald was accused of assault earlier this week, but after video of the incident surfaced Friday, Todd Hollis, the attorney representing Donald’s accuser, said his client was mistaken when he identified Donald as his attacker. Hollis also apologized to Donald on behalf of his client.

“I wanted to make this statement public and to extend an apology to Aaron for what he’s gone through,” Hollis said, according to Bryant Reed of KDKA. “But I clearly know this was not him.”

The Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle was accused of assault by DeVincent Spriggs on Wednesday. Spriggs said he was assaulted by Donald and others at an after-hours club in Pittsburgh’s South Side around 3 a.m. on Sunday. And as a result, Hollis announced his intent to file charges against Donald.

However, Casey White, Donald’s attorney, presented a different version of events on Friday morning and provided surveillance video footage to support that version of events. White said that there was “no dispute” that Spriggs was attacked, but he said that Donald was restrained by others when the attack occurred. He also said that Donald broke free and then rushed to the defense of Spriggs, which prevented further injuries.

The video provided by White appeared to corroborate those claims, as the only man in the video resembling Donald was not pictured when Spriggs was being thrown to the ground by someone else. But Donald then appeared to make his way to Spriggs and pull others away from him after the assault was underway.

The video evidence and apology from the accuser’s attorney bode well for Donald in the matter, and so does Donald’s clean off-the-field record dating back more than a decade to his time at Penn Hills and Pitt. With that said, Pittsburgh police describe the investigation as ongoing. But White told KDKA that he had an email from the police saying, “I agree thus far there is no evidence from that video that shows Donald assaulting the victim.”

Despite the previous announcement from Hollis stating that Spriggs intended to file charges, no charges have been filed against anyone over the incident at this time. And given the recent developments, it appears the matter could be nearing a close for Donald.