BALTIMORE (AP) — The arrest of Baltimore Raven rookie Tony Fein at the Inner Harbor was the result of police profiling, the undrafted linebacker's agent said Monday.
Fein was arrested and charged Sunday with assaulting a police officer who confronted him after a security officer thought he saw Fein pass a handgun to a friend at the counter of a HarborPlace restaurant, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. It turned out to be a cell phone.
"Tony's never owned a weapon in his life," agent Milton Dee Hobbs said. "That weapon was a cell phone."
When police questioned Fein, 27, he became belligerent and shoved the officer, Guglielmi said. Sgt. Joseph Donato was knocked to the ground and had an injured elbow, a police report said.
But Hobbs said it was the officer who was aggressive and that Fein didn't shove him. He said police approached Fein because he was a black man wearing a sweat suit and hoodie.
"It looks awful for Tony and puts him in a bad position," Hobbs said.
Baltimore police have stepped up security at the Inner Harbor, a major tourism draw for the city, after a shooting at the same building a weekend earlier.
Fein attended Ole Miss and was signed as a free agent in June following a minicamp tryout. He is an Iraq veteran who served in the Army for more than three years before playing college ball. In two seasons at Ole Miss, he had 136 tackles (77 solo) in 24 games, according to the Ravens Web site.
"Like all citizens, Tony will get his due process and have his opportunity to explain," Ravens senior vice president of public and community relations Kevin Byrne said in a statement. "There are two sides to every story."
Fein was booked for the misdemeanor charge late Sunday, but was back at the team hotel early Monday morning, Hobbs said.
According to the report, Donato loudly told Fein: "Stand up, turn around and keep your hands where I can see them." Fein reacted by pushing Donato with one hand while turning around from the restaurant counter, police said.
Donato grabbed Fein by the sweat shirt, forced him to the ground and he and other officers handcuffed him, the report stated.
Fein was not injured, police said.
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