Another Witness Comes Forward to Back Cedric Benson

There's a new witness coming out in support of Cedric Benson's claims that it was the LCRA officers who were abusive of Benson, and not the other way around as they would have us believe.

The witness is Toby Patch, and though he wasn't on Cedric's boat, he was at the nearby Emerald Point Marina.

"As they were taking him up the dock, they stopped, he said, 'I am fine, I can continue walking,' and they put their legs behind his knees and knocked him over his knees and started hog-carrying him," Patch told KXAN-TV in Austin.

Near the parking area, Patch says the treatment of Benson worsened.

"They ended up--I don't know why--but laid him on his back, I heard him say, 'Please don't pepper spray me, please don't pepper spray me,'" Patch said. "It was uncalled for, it was ludicrous, no point for it."

Patch is the second witness to come forward backing up Benson's claims that he was mistreated, following in the footsteps of boat passenger Elizabeth Cartwright earlier this week. So it's starting to look like my initial feelings as to what happened here were right.

Still, even if Cedric is vindicated and has the charges dropped, he's still going to suffer for the incident. His next court date is May 19th, which also happens to be the day the Bears start OTA's. Cedric can't really afford to miss many practices seeing as how he's fighting to keep his job.

Passenger on Benson's Boat: 'I've Never Heard or Seen Cedric That Scared'

Ever since the story first broke about Cedric Benson's arrest last weekend in Austin, Texas, Benson has maintained that the story the police are telling wasn't the way things actually went down. Cedric's maintained that he wasn't drunk, he didn't resist the officers, and that the only people who were out of line that day were the police.

The problem is that nobody had been supporting his claims. Until now, anyway. A friend of Cedric that was on the phone has come out and said that Benson's tale of the story was a lot closer to the truth than anything the police are saying.

A female passenger on Cedric Benson's boat Saturday night in Austin, Texas, was concerned enough about his safety after police took him into custody to phone her parents and urge them to call 911, the Tribune has learned.

"I called my dad and told him, 'Call 911, my black friend is getting beaten up by police on Lake Travis,' " said Elizabeth Cartwright, 22, a friend of Benson's from the University of Texas. "It's more what I heard than what I saw. I have never heard or seen Cedric that scared."

See, now if you need further proof that the cops in this incident were doing nothing but punishing Cedric for "boating while black", you need look no further than Benson's friend. She's his friend, and she's racist too!

I guess telling her dad that her friend was getting beat up by police just wouldn't suffice, she had to throw in the "my black friend." Don't you remember him, father? That charming negro boy I was telling you about!

Anyway, she says she's willing to testify on Cedric's behalf once this gets to court, and that her white boyfriend has dozens of photos to support her and Benson's story.

Cedric Benson Had A Tough Week

As I'm sure you've all heard by now, Bears running back Cedric Benson got into a bit of trouble over the weekend, when he was arrested for boating while intoxicated. While I try to remember a time when I was on a boat where either I, or the person driving the boat, didn't have a beer in their hand, here are some of the particulars for you to go over.

Lower Colorado River Authority police arrested the Bears running back, who played at the University of Texas in Austin, on Lake Travis during a random safety inspection. An LCRA spokesman said Benson, who failed a sobriety "float test" (an abbreviated version of a field sobriety test) on his 37-foot yacht, argued over taking a follow-up test on land and refused to put on a life jacket. LCRA officers said they attempted to arrest Benson at that time but that he refused to cooperate and was pepper-sprayed. He was booked at 11:24 p.m. Saturday at the Travis County Jail and was out early Sunday morning on $14,500 bond.

Now without being there, this is how I picture the whole thing went down.

River Authority Cop #1: Man, where in life did we mess up bad enough to become River Authority cops?

River Authority Cop #2: I don't know, hoss. I don't know.

RAC #1: Not a day goes by where I don't think about killing maself.

RAC#2: Me too.

RAC#1: Want to end it all right here? Together?

RAC#2: You know what? Fuck it. Let's do..

RAC#1: Wait a second, what's that? It's a boat! Let's go mess with them, and then kill ourselves.

RAC #2: Sounds like a plan to me!

(the River Authority cops then go over to Cedric Benson's boat, and climb on board)

RAC#1: Be careful man, there's black people on this boat.

RAC#2: Way ahead of you, hoss. Already got ma pepper spray ready.

RAC#1: Good. Juss let me do all the talkin.

(Cedric Benson then approaches the cops, takes two steps and falls down, but then gets back up)

Cedric Benson: Damn waves! There a problem here officer?

RAC#1: You drunk, boy?

Benson: Drunk? Oh hell no.

RAC#1: Then why you fall down back there?

Benson: Oh, I'm never able to take more than two or three steps without falling down or gettin hurt. It's a condition I have called "major suckitis."

RAC#1: You sure you ain't drunk?

Benson: Pretty damn sure.

RAC#1: He's a cussin at us! And resisting arrest! SPRAY HIM, DAMMIT, SPRAY HIM!!

(RAC#2 then sprays Benson in the eyes for 25 minutes)

Benson: Aaaaaah!!

Then the cops dragged the blind bastard off the boat and arrested him.

For the most part, Benson agrees with my version of the story.

"There was no resistance on my part," Benson told the Tribune on Sunday night. "Was I drunk? No."

Benson said there was alcohol on his boat but that he was not intoxicated and the boat was stationary when police arrived. He said he fully cooperated with officers and that this was the sixth time he had been questioned by lake police in the year that he has owned the boat.

"They gave me a field sobriety test, told me to say my ABCs and told me to count from 1 to 4 up and down," Benson said of Saturday's incident. "I'm thinking, I passed all the tests, did everything right. Then the officer told me we needed to go to land to take more tests. I politely asked him why we needed to go to land to take more tests when I took every test. Then he sprayed me with mace, on his boat.

"I'm not handcuffed. I'm not under arrest. I'm not threatening him. I'm not pushing him. I'm not touching him. And he sprays me right in my eye."

Benson said by that time, he was far removed from the family and friends left on his boat, a group that included his mother.

"Nobody saw what he did to me," Benson said. "I started screaming for my mother to come. That's when they put me under arrest. And the officer threw a life jacket over my head.

"Once we got to land, the Travis County police grabbed me and kicked my feet from under me. So I landed on my back while I was handcuffed. They held me down and held the water hose over my face. I couldn't breathe, I'm choking, I'm begging the cops, 'Please stop. Please stop.' Then they picked me up and dragged me backward toward their car. And I'm still being polite, asking them, 'Sir, could you please allow me to walk like a man to your cop car?' They just kept dragging me on."

Okay, so it's not exactly the same, but whatever. Sports blogs aren't known for their accuracy in reporting, ain't that right, Buzz?

No matter what actually happened, this was just the crowning jewel on what was a craptastic week for Cedric. It all started on Sunday when the Bears drafted Matt Forte in the 2nd round of the draft, effectively making it official that Benson is a bust, and there's also a chance he won't have a job once the season starts. Now this. I'd almost feel bad for him, you know, if he didn't suck so bad.