Tim Tebow Tried to Stop '07 Bar Fight Involving Aaron Hernandez
BOSTON, July 3, 2013— -- New England Patriots backup quarterback Tim Tebow was a witness to a 2007 bar fight in Florida involving a then-17 year old Aaron Hernandez and tried unsuccessfully to break up the altercation, according to a Gainesville police report.
The fight broke out at 1 a.m. at the Swamp near the University of Florida campus, where both Tebow and Hernandez played football for the Gators. Hernandez tried to leave without paying a bill for two alcoholic drinks, according to the report, telling the server that he didn't order them.
That prompted a manager to confront Hernandez, according to the report, and the exchange became heated, prompting Tebow to try to step in.
Aaron Hernandez Jerseys Selling for Hundreds on eBay
Tebow told police that he tried "to help resolve the conflict,'' the report states. He encouraged Hernandez to leave peacefully and offered to pay the bill. Instead, police stated in the report that Hernandez punched the manager with his right fist and fled the bar.
The weapons listed in the police report were "hands, feet, fists and spitting."
The victim refused medical assistance at the scene. Police tracked down Hernandez around 3 a.m. that morning. Hernandez told police that the victim "got in his face" outside the bar and repeated his claim that he did not order the two alcoholic drinks he had consumed, according to one Gainesville police report.
A supplemental Gainesville police report described Hernandez as "polite" and noted he did not appear intoxicated when he was interviewed.
The next day, the victim told police his own doctor said the punch had burst his eardrum and he lost hearing in his right ear, an injury that would take four to six weeks to heal. Gainesville PD officers then took out a sworn complaint for felony battery. But Hernandez was never formally charged.
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Massachusetts police are interested in Hernandez's alleged bouts of violence in Florida, which include the fight and a shooting that took place after a 2007 football game between the Gators and Auburn University. Both incidents have drawn renewed interest since his arrest for murder.
Hernandez also faces a civil lawsuit filed last month that claims Hernandez shot someone in the face after leaving Tootsie's strip club in Miami and blew out his eye.
But that victim did not cooperate with police at the time of the shooting.
Hernandez remains in custody at Bristol County jail, where he has been held since June 26, the day he was escorted from his home in handcuffs and charged with first degree murder and weapons violations. The Patriots dropped him from the team that same day and will offer a free jersey exchange for anyone who wants to trade in their No. 81 Hernandez merchandise for another player's name and number next week.
Hernandez was assigned a new number at the Bristol County jail: prisoner number 174594.
At the former NFL player's arraignment, Bristol County assistant district attorney William McCauley outlined the evidence against Hernandez, including recovered shell casings, video surveillance, text messages, and a piece of chewed Bubbalicious gum recovered from a Dumpster at a rental car agency. McCauley also recounted statements Hernandez allegedly made in the hours before his friend, Odin Lloyd, 27 was killed about how he could no longer trust the victim.
