911 tape released in Dalvin Cook arrest

The Leon County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday released the 911 call that led to the arrest of suspended Florida State University running back Dalvin Cook.

Cook was suspended from the football team July 11 after State Attorney Willie Meggs announced he was filing battery charges against the 19-year-old for allegedly punching a woman outside downtown Tallahassee bar Clyde’s & Costelo’s.

Cook turned himself in at the Leon County Jail the same day and was released on bond.

In the tape, the woman who was punched tells a dispatcher: “Some football players hit me. My lip is bleeding,” while outside of the Adams Street bar.

She also reported the men, who told her they played for FSU, “got a little rowdy because my friend didn’t want to talk to them,” and describes a man with dreadlocks who punched her.

The woman described between five and seven football players who approached her and her friend outside the club after it closed June 23.

The 21-year-old, her friend and the group of men got into an argument when she refused to give her phone number to an unnamed FSU player.

“I said ‘don’t put your hands on her and don’t put your hands on me,’ ” the woman said. She declined medical attention, but told the dispatcher she wanted to press charges. “If she doesn’t want to talk to your brother, cool. Let it go,” she said.

Cook, a sophomore, came over originally trying to calm the situation, court records show. At another point, FSU sophomore wide receiver Travis Rudolph also joined the argument.

The woman pushed Rudolph, but he did not react other than to continue arguing. Cook asked if she’d pushed Rudolph and, according to court records, punched the woman after she replied, knocking her into a parked car.

Cook continued to swing at her, hitting her at least one other time as he was being restrained. The blow knocked her to the ground. The group of football players then walked away.

Cook’s arrest soon after freshman quarterback De’Andre Johnson was arrested and expelled from the team prompted a strong reaction from head coach Jimbo Fisher, who banned players from attending bars, and university President John Thrasher, who met with student athletes to address the off-the-field incidents.

“I reiterated to our players that they simply cannot put themselves in situations that reflect poor behavior or cause harm to others,” Thrasher wrote in a letter to FSU alumni and supporters after Cook’s suspension. “They must remember that playing football for FSU is a privilege, not a right.”

Johnson was dismissed from the team on July 6 after the Tallahassee Democrat published video of him punching a woman at Yianni’s nightclub. He was charged with misdemeanor battery.

Ricky Patel, Cook’s Miami-based attorney, told the Democrat last week his client is innocent, and this is a case of mistaken identity.

“There are two points to make here,” Patel said.

“No. 1: He didn’t punch anyone. No. 2 is: The alleged victim is a black female. And this is another instance of people assuming Dalvin Cook is the same guy that has been shown on other videos of other athletes at Florida State. And he isn’t.

“... He didn’t punch anyone.”