Former New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas has reached a resolution in his legal matter stemming from his November arrest
Per ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, Thomas’ attorney Daniel “Becket” Becnel said that misdemeanor charges of simple battery and criminal mischief against Thomas were dismissed on Wednesday.
Thomas had been facing charges related to an incident that occurred in front of his residence in Kenner, Louisiana, on Nov. 10. The veteran wideout was accused by a local contractor of pushing him and throwing a brick at his car windshield amid an altercation over parking issues in the neighborhood.
“We had been working through an outcome like this with the Kenner prosecutor, exchanging videos and seeing if there was any evidence of their allegations,” Becnel told Terrell. “There was no evidence of injuries, medical bills. There was no evidence of property damage. The complainant alleged that there was video of an assault and there was no video. The prosecutor reviewed the matter, we made our case to him, and he agreed, and the matter was dismissed today.”
homas was taken into custody that night and released a few hours later. He accompanied the team to its road matchup against the Minnesota Vikings, but he injured his knee two plays into the game and was eventually placed on injured reserve, which ended his season after 10 games.
“There was no assault, there was no brick thrown … This was a dispute between a contractor and his employees, who were blocking his driveway and who were parking and walking on his grass,” Becnel said. “It came to a head one day, but there was no criminality involved. That’s obvious by the lack of any type of civil suit, the lack of any type of property damage, the lack of any medical issues and the lack of any physical evidence that criminal action took place.”
Thomas was released by the Saints last week after spending the first eight seasons of his career in New Orleans. Injuries have slowed him down in recent years, but he was once one of the best receivers in the league, earning three Pro Bowl selections and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award in 2019.
“Mr. Thomas is happy to put this behind him because he has an exemplary record,” Becnel said. “He wants to move forward with his NFL career and his personal life.”
Read the Article