Chiefs running back Larry Johnson faces a December court date on a charge of simple assault, the Kansas City Star reports. According to Kansas City Municipal Court records, a 26-year-old woman accused Johnson, of using his open hand to push the left side of her head at a nightclub on February 24.
A police report indicates that the woman and a friend were walking through the club when Johnson moved toward them and pushed the woman, saying, " … don’t touch me." The woman reportedly replied, "I didn’t touch you." One of the woman’s friends identified Johnson and they notified the security guards at the club, who did nothing, according to the police report.
Johnson’s lawyer, Kevin E.J. Regan, told the Star on Monday that his client had done nothing inappropriate. Regan said an intoxicated woman did throw herself at Johnson that night but was restrained by security. He said his investigation also shows she did not make any complaints to the management, security officers or police, who were at the club that night. And even after she reported the incident to police 11 hours later, police observed no injuries, Regan said.
This is Johnson’s third brush with the law since he joined the Chiefs, but he does not have any convictions.
In 2003, he was accused of aggravated assault and misdemeanor domestic battery when he was accused of brandishing a gun during an argument with a former girlfriend. Those charges were dropped after he agreed to enter a domestic-violence diversion program.
In 2005, a woman accused Johnson of pulling her to the exit of a Kansas City bar and pushing her to the floor after an argument. That woman later changed her story and insisted that she did not want to press charges against Johnson. Prosecutors dropped the assault charge after she missed three court hearings.
