A former Dallas Cowboys star found himself handcuffed by local police and in the crosshairs of an officer’s gun after an alleged parking lot altercation with a reckless driver.
On Sunday, Dez Bryant, the former star wide receiver for the Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens, said he and the driver ended up in the same parking lot at Chiloso Mexican Bistro in Southlake, just minutes from where his son, Dez Jr., plays football at Southlake Carroll.
“I was at a light. I noticed this kid next to me. He was with someone behind me, and I could tell they were playing horses, they were honking, whatever, honking with each other, but I don’t think about it too much,” Bryant told Outkick’s Jackson Thompson. “And when the light turned green, the car next to me, he shot out, jumped in front of me.”
An argument ensued, with Bryant accusing the man of reckless driving. Bryant, who admitted to snatching the phone from the man’s hands during the confrontation, said the driver then threatened to shoot him.
“I told him, I said, ‘Hey man, you pulled out that gun. I’m telling you right now, you better use it because if you don’t, I’m going to do something to you,'” Bryant told Thompson. “He pulled out his phone and I told him, ‘Hey, take the phone away from me.’ So what I did was I snatched the phone out of his hands.”
Bryant said after turning off the phone, the driver threatened to call the police and he responded that he had the right to protect himself.
However, when police arrived, Bryant said the officers pointed a gun at him and told them all to get on the ground. Bryant, who was in the vehicle with his daughters, asked his partner to come to the scene to pick up the children.
Footage provided to OutKick showed an officer pointing a gun at Bryant. Bryant is also seen lying on the ground handcuffed alongside the two other men in the parking lot.
“I had so much confidence in myself that I wouldn’t do anything wrong,” Bryant told Thompson. “I was definitely more worried about my kids, looking at their dad, being on the ground, but a gun pointed at me – I think that bothered me more than anything else.”
Bryant noted that the other men involved in the altercation were allowed to leave after police viewed the cellphone video. According to TMZ, Bryant was issued a citation for “assault by contact” and is scheduled to appear in municipal court by November 20. The former Cowboys called the officer’s decision “unilateral” and said he would claim self-defense.
“So I said, ‘Take me to jail. I’d rather you take all of us to the police station and do the proper investigation instead of just taking someone else’s side,'” Bryant said. “I felt like it was very one-sided. And for me, I just feel like I can’t let this go.”
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