The Philadelphia district attorney’s office is hesitant to issue an arrest warrant for LeSean McCoy's alleged involvement in a nightclub brawl on Feb. 7 with off-duty police officers, law enforcement officials told CSNPhilly.com Thursday.
A spokesman for the DA's office also refuted Wednesday's report by The Buffalo News that a news conference to share the office's findings from its investigation would take place Thursday or "Friday at the latest." No news conference is scheduled for Thursday, or the immediate future.
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According CSNPhilly's report, unidentified law enforcement officials said tension between the district attorney’s office and the Philadelphia Police Department has grown because of the delay in charging McCoy and three other men for their alleged role in the melee.
Unidentified sources told CSNPhilly.com that the DA’s office has lingering questions about the off-duty police officers' behavior that night, including how much they had to drink and why they didn't call 911 when the incident began.
The News had quoted a DA's office spokesman as saying, "We continue to investigate."
“It’s truly extraordinary to have this kind of a delay in this kind of case,” an unidentified source close to the situation told The News. “It’s not a six-month investigation where there’s wiretaps and surveillance and confidential informants placed inside of a drug organization. This is, essentially, a simple bar fight. And it raises all sorts of questions about the extent to which the prosecutor’s office is confident in the information that’s been provided them.”
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Meanwhile, one of two criminal defense attorneys representing McCoy professed his innocence in regards to the incident.
“We’re awaiting a decision by the DA’s office,” Dennis Cogan said. “We trust that they are really taking time to consider all the surrounding circumstances. But I’m here to say and I’m telling you that McCoy did nothing wrong, nothing wrong. And he was sober. The questions will have to be asked about the conditions of other people.”
The president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police, John McNesby, said he believes the DA is taking a cautious approach given the unusual nature of the case, which involves three off-duty police officers, two of whom needed hospital treatment. According to police, one suffered a broken nose, broken ribs and other injuries after being punched, knocked to the ground, kicked and stomped by all four suspects. The other sustained a skull fracture and broken ribs.
