Keith Olbermann: Ray McDonald Called a Police Officer Who Also Works Security for the 49ers on Night of Arrest
By Jason Lisk
Keith Olbermann had an interesting piece on a detail that was under-reported nationally last week coming out of San Francisco. Ray McDonald continues to play as charges have yet to be filed in his domestic violence case, after McDonald was originally arrested on August 31st.
One complicating factor? There were several players at a birthday party for McDonald, and McDonald apparently called a police officer who also works for the 49ers, who may have been first at the scene, before the 911 responders. Was he on duty as a police officer at the time, or off-duty? It doesn’t say.
As Olbermann asks, “How did McDonald know to call the officer?”
After that Olbermann monologue ran late yesterday, the San Jose Mercury News released this report with the officer’s name.
Sergeant Sean Pritchard, a San Jose police officer who works with the gang suppression unit and also works on the San Francisco 49ers security detail, has been barred from further activity with the team pending an investigation into his role into the night in question.
According to the story, Pritchard is one of nearly 20 San Jose police officers who also work with the 49ers, ranging from working at games to providing security.
"Pritchard’s presence at McDonald’s house complicated the police investigation into the domestic violence call, and it was one reason it took a month to forward the case to District Attorney Jeff Rosen’s office, sources said. It also raised questions about whether the department can fairly investigate 49ers players when some of its officers work for the team."
While the San Jose police department has not said whether Pritchard was the first on the scene, a source claims that McDonald called Pritchard and he arrived before any other police (responding to the 911 call) had arrived.
This is the next big issue for the NFL–who would have you believe that they merely handled the Ray Rice investigation incompetently–because they are often so embedded with local law enforcement. Jack Moore at Vice had a really good piece on the extra-judicial efforts of the NFL security force, and its history.
In this case, it appears part of the delay–and why McDonald has of yet to be charged and still playing–is because of the involvement of an officer friendly with the team, who got there to the scene that was going to put a player in a bad situation, thus creating a potential conflict of interest.