Fresh video has put Oregon assistant coach Ra’Shaad Samples back in the spotlight, and not for anything happening on the field. The footage shows Samples leaving the scene of an April crash in Eugene, where he is now facing charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving after backing his Ford F-150 into a parked Dodge Ram.
The dashcam from the other vehicle captured the impact. According to the source material, Samples paused for a moment before driving off while bystanders shouted at him. Steven James Young, the other driver, then followed him and confronted him.
Samples has said he did not realize what had happened at first. “I did not realize I backed into anything until I pulled away,” Samples said Tuesday in a statement released to The Oregonian/OregonLive via his lawyer.
Young said Samples gave the name Deshaun Jackson at the scene. Text messages later showed the same alias along with insurance screenshots. Samples later told investigators he used the name as a joke, saying DeSean Jackson is his favorite player.
The situation got more complicated in recorded phone calls after the crash. In those calls, Samples asked Young not to show the video to head coach Dan Lanning and offered game tickets and cash to help cover the damage.
“If I can do something for your family, if there’s a game, if there’s anything I can do bro,” Samples told Young in the phone call in the days after the incident. “It would make me feel better if I’ve shown some appreciation, if you ever need it.”
Samples also said he regularly gives tickets to people he meets and denied remembering a specific ticket offer in this case. “While I saw no damage to his vehicle, I offered to pay for any damage,” he said via his lawyer.
“I don’t remember offering him any game tickets. I routinely give people game tickets.
If I meet someone who wants to go to a game, I give them tickets. I don’t believe I’ve ever told someone no.”
University of Oregon athletics issued a short response: “We take these matters seriously and have taken appropriate action,” UO athletics said.
Samples is still listed on the team website as assistant head coach and running backs coach, and fall camp begins this week. Young and some passengers in his vehicle now say they were injured and have hired attorneys to pursue the case. The DMV report says no field sobriety test was given at the scene, and Eugene police are still investigating.
Samples had an initial court hearing in July, and his next court date is scheduled for late August. The newly released video has brought the case back into focus as more details continue to surface from the April incident.
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