Toronto Maple Leafs’ center Auston Matthews is one of the brightest young stars in the NHL. For instance, he has 111 career goals and 205 total points in 211 games. Now just entering his fourth season in which he will be 22-years old, the sky is the limit in terms of potential.
However, Matthews is facing legal issues stemming from a May incident. On Tuesday evening it was announced that Matthews has been charged with disorderly conduct. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports the specifics via twitter:
Statement from TOR on Auston Matthews:
“The Toronto Maple Leafs are aware of the complaint of disturbing the peace against forward Auston Matthews. Auston is cooperating fully with relevant authorities but neither he nor the Club will comment any further..”
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) September 24, 2019
Furthermore, the Toronto Maple Leafs issued a team statement regarding Matthews’ infraction. Surely, they were already aware of the complaint against the former number one overall pick in the 2016 NHL draft.
“The Toronto Maple Leafs are aware of the complaint of disturbing the peace against forward Auston Matthews,” the statement reads. “Auston is cooperating fully with the relevant authorities but neither he nor the Club will comment any further out of respect for the process involved.”
Of course, it’s always interesting to learn what one did to get a disorderly conduct charge. Sometimes, those items make their way into a story or report. In this case, we learn of what Matthews did (allegedly) on that May night in his home state of Arizona.
According to the police report, a female security guard at a condo complex in Scottsdale made the complaint after she said Matthews and a group of males tried to open her vehicle as she sat inside doing paperwork at 2 a.m.
The complainant said she got out her car and confronted Matthews, who she said appeared to be intoxicated. She said Matthews said he thought it would be funny to see how she would respond.
The report states that, as Matthews walked away, he dropped his pants, bent over and grabbed his buttocks, though the complainant said he appeared to keep his underwear on.
While we wait to see how the court rules – or if there is a settlement – it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility that a pro athlete or hockey player would do this. Equally important, no one was hurt in the incident; despite how rude it is to drop your pants and grab your buttocks. Also, the report states that Matthews kept his underwear on.
The Toronto Maple Leafs open their season on October 2nd at home against the Ottawa Senators. We will have more on this story as it develops.
