Aqib Talib Arrested For Punching Cab Driver, Resisting Arres

[jeremyroyce]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4411228



Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Aqib Talib was arrested early Thursday and charged with simple battery and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors, in connection with an alleged assault on a cab driver.

Tampa-area media outlets reported that according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report, Talib struck a cab driver in the right ear and neck with a closed fist shortly after 11 p.m. on Wednesday night.


According to a report from the Pinellas County, Fla. sheriff's office, Talib, 23, was arrested early Thursday morning by the Florida Highway Patrol. He was booked and released on a total of $300 bail at about 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the report.

According to the police report, when they arrived on the scene Talib and two other men were passengers in the cab. Police asked Talib to get out of the car three times and he did not cooperate, according to the report.

"It was like someone hit me upside the head with a hammer," said the driver, 47-year-old David Duggan of St. Petersburg, according to the St. Petersburg Times. "He hit me so hard he knocked my hat off my head."

Duggan said he had picked the men up outside Nova 535, a St. Petersburg venue that hosts private parties, and charged the men $50 to take them to a hotel in Tampa, according to the Times.

The Buccaneers did not immediately comment on the arrest, according to area media reports.

An NFL spokesman said the league would review the incident, according to the Tampa Tribune.

"As in any other such matter, we will look into it," league spokesman Greg Aiello said in an e-mail, according to the Tribune.

Talib, whom the Buccaneers drafted 20th overall in 2008 from Kansas, is currently penciled in as one of the Buccaneers' starting cornerbacks. He had four interceptions in 15 games as a rookie last season.

Talib has been involved in a pair of violent incidents since joining the league, according to area media reports. In a brawl during practice in May, Talib swung his helmet at a teammate and hit bystander Torrie Cox instead. And last year, during the league's rookie symposium, he got into a fight with then-teammate Cory Boyd.