Report: Jets DC Dennis Thurman being investigated for allegedly slapping female restaurant patron
Dennis Thurman looks on during a game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Credit: AP, 2010
According to TMZ Sports, a 28-year-old woman has filed a report with the Morristown police department alleging she was slapped by Jets defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman earlier this week.
The woman claims that she encountered Thurman while at the outside bar of Pazzo Pazzo restaurant Wednesday afternoon. Thurman, the woman said, hit on her and offered her drinks. And when she made it clear she was not interested, he “showed an aggressive demeanor toward her” and then “out of nowhere, Thurman slapped her across the face.”
According to TMZ – which said it obtained photos of Thurman and the woman before and after the alleged slap – the woman also yelled out: “You just hit me.”
Thurman, 58, reportedly “threw his hands up in the air and left the area” after the incident. The woman, who claims she was uninjured, said she filed a police report “out of concern Thurman would strike other women in the future.”
Around 3:43 p.m. Friday, a Pazzo Pazzo employee told Newsday that the restaurant’s owner, Dennis Henry, was “in a meeting.” But in an earlier interview with TheBigLead.com, Henry said he was working on Wednesday but was unaware of the alleged incident.
“I did not see that happen and I didn’t hear that it happened,” Henry told the web site, adding that Thurman is a regular at the restaurant and “a very nice man.”
Thurman, a former NFL defensive back, has been the Jets defensive coordinator since 2009.
The Jets have yet to release a statement.
A woman claiming to have witnessed the altercation gave TheBigLead.com a blow-by-blow of the incident: "He walked up and sat next to us at the bar. He came on strong, I didn’t engage, but my friend engaged in some back and forth banter of basically him telling her how pretty she was and what an attitude she has and her just kind of being an uninterested jackass in return. Asked him his sign, gave him a fake name and he totally knew and wasn’t happy that this beautiful girl didn’t care who he was or how much money he has. She also told him she’s taken and that her man is an officer in Afghanistan and it was just like I watched him grow more and more irritated by her the more she spoke. They were like oil and water. About 15 minutes or so after him sitting there he threw money on the bar and told the bartender it was a drink for me and not for her because of her attitude and then put his face in hers and asked for a kiss, she backed up and gave him the middle finger and said no and he smacked her face and knocked her hand down and left the bar with his hands in the air..."
This isn't the first time Thurman has garnered attention for the wrong reason. Back in 2010, the Jets' DC was spotted throwing passes in the direction of TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz during a September practice.
