A week and a half ago, former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dan Skuta was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor battery. The topic has come up in a few threads, so I figured I would create a separate article for the news, and some recent updates.
Skuta was arrested after getting into a fight in a bar. He was released from jail on Sunday, June 19, so I am guessing the incident happened late on the 18th, or early on the 19th. The arrest was for misdemeanor battery. The police report said that a witness told police Skuta had been flirting with a woman in a bar. The witness said Skuta asked for the woman’s phone number, and they started arguing when she would not give it to him. The witness alleged that Skuta pushed the woman’s face with an open hand and it resulted in the woman hitting a glass window. The witness then went and found police.
On Monday, as word of Skuta’s arrest circulated, his attorney released a statement to the media (via ABC12) claiming the entire incident was fabricated, and eyewitnesses will speak to that. The attorney said that two women were harassing them and Skuta “verbally instructed” them to leave Skuta and his friends alone. The attorney says Skuta was struck in the face by one of the women, which resulted in a mark seen on the mug shot. I’ve posted the attorney’s statement down below.
Skuta has not been charged by the district attorney’s office, and there is no word on a timeline for figuring out what happened. Unfortunately this ends up bad no matter the result. Either Skuta took seriously unnecessary force against a woman, or the two women are making up the story about Skuta. It’s a problem either way. That being said, until we see more evidence, I don’t think it’s fair to assume either side is lying. One side is likely telling the truth more than the other, and of course, there is the possibility of shades of gray. But let’s not make any assumptions about which side is lying and which side is telling the truth.
Attorney’s statement:
"Dan Skuta was arrested for something that simply did not happen and we ask that there be no rush to judgment as Dan is innocent. Erroneous conclusions should not be jumped to.
Eyewitnesses who we have already received statements from in our initial investigation will attest that Dan was alongside his girlfriend when this fabricated event supposedly took place and only verbally instructed two women who were harassing his friends to leave them alone.
The witnesses confirm that upon only verbally instructing the nuisances to leave them alone, Dan was then struck in the face by one of the women, as is evidenced by his mugshot which clearly shows where he was struck. They completely contradict the version of the complainant leading to Dan’s arrest. They further confirm that he and his girlfriend walked away from the incident, as to avoid further trouble from his attacker .
Dan never placed his hands on anyone. As such, according to the witnesses he was arrested outside the venue on a story entirely made up by the offending woman. He has not been charged and we are confident this will be resolved favorably to Dan and the truth will come out as to his innocence and non-involvement.
Dan has an outstanding reputation and is hurt by the unfair association to any such allegation and is confident that the full truth will soon be determined."