Last week, Eagles safety Nate Allen was detained but then released by authorities after an allegation of indecent exposure. This week, Allen fully has been cleared.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Office of the State Attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit in Fort Myers, Florida has found that Allen “could not have been the perpetrator” that triggered the allegations.
Last Monday, a 16-year-old girl called 911 to inform police that “she saw a man in a large black two door or four door pick-up, most likely a Ford, with his window down masturbating in the truck.” She said the man was in his mid-40s to early 50, with a gray/white goatee. She also said the man was wearing a red shirt and a white visor.
Police later saw Allen driving a black Ford F-250 truck, and wearing a red T-shirt and white cap. He was stopped and detained while the girl came to the traffic stop for the purposes of identifying Allen. It’s unclear whether she positively identified the 27-year-old Allen; the State Attorney’s memo exonerating Allen notes that this method of identification is “inherently suggestive and leads to potential misidentification.”
Other evidence confirmed that Allen was not the man the girl saw, including evidence regarding his whereabouts at the time and a surveillance video showing a different black truck next to the SUV the girl was driving at the time she called 911.
So it’s a complete and total exoneration of Allen. This isn’t a case of the prosecution believing it may not have enough proof to obtain a conviction; it has no proof. It wasn’t Allen.
A second-round pick of the Eagles in 2010, Allen is due to become a free agent on March 10.
