Darius Fleming Not Lying, Woman Saved From Car Accident Thanks New England Patriots Linebacker

Darius Fleming told a story of how he saved a woman’s life after pulling her out of a burning car last week. The New England Patriots linebacker was called a liar by multiple outlets when an investigation into the car accident proved fruitless. It turns out that Fleming wasn’t lying though when he recounted the accident and how he saved a woman from supposed certain death. According to Larry Brown Sports, the Walpole Police Department has confirmed that Fleming really was a hero on January 14, when he stopped at the scene of a car accident on Route 1.

Darius Fleming disappointed his tale of heroism was doubted https://t.co/Lk4UgOCTE2

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 21, 2016

Darius played Saturday’s New England Patriots game with 22 stitches in his leg. The Patriots linebacker claimed he sustained the leg injury after kicking out a car window on Thursday and pulling the car’s occupant to safety. The story of Fleming’s heroics wasn’t even reported by news outlets until Wednesday but calls to confirm his account began to cast down on the NFL player’s story.

USA Today claimed to have contacted the Walpole Police Department as well as other area law enforcement with questions about the car accident and heroic rescue that Darius Fleming was talking about. After multiple calls, USA Today and multiple other outlets were unable to confirm an accident that resembled Fleming’s story, casting doubt on his claims to have saved a woman and making some suspicious about the stitches in his leg.

Imagine Darius Fleming’s surprise when media outlets started to insinuate that he was lying in subsequent reports about the car accident story. Darius took to Twitter to comment on his disbelief over claims that he might have “Manti Teo’d” his car accident heroics on the same day that Jamie Foxx made headlines for a similar car accident wherein he saved someone. Fleming tweeted, “People are quick to try and bring you down….so sad.”‘

People are quick to try and bring you down….so sad

— Darius Fleming (@dfleming58) January 20, 2016

Later on Wednesday, the Walpole Police Department came forward with a press release, reversing their earlier claims that no recent accidents fit the description of Fleming’s story. After repeated inquiries about a possible accident that Darius Fleming may have assisted with, the police agency looked back over their accident log and found the three-car accident that did fit. The press released claimed that an “unknown good samaritan” did rescue a woman from one of the cars.

It seems that Darius was mistaken about there being a car fire. Instead, it was reported that the airbag had deployed on a vehicle and that can create a cloud of smoke and dust, giving the impression of a possible fire. That same car had the window broken. According to the press release, the driver of the car did report that a man had come to her aid and that she thought he played for the New England Patriots. That information was not entered into the police report because there were no reported injuries in the accident.

The woman who was rescued by Fleming did come forward, according to the Walpole Police Department. Their press release said, “She said she did not recognize the player [Darius Fleming] and did not realize that he was hurt at the time. She said that she would like to remain anonymous but that she would like to express her thanks to the individual who came to her aid.”

Patriots’ Darius Fleming played through injury suffered saving a woman from a burning car https://t.co/Rt1LIL4mVo pic.twitter.com/Arpqskabrd

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 20, 2016

Fleming said that he didn’t know his leg was bleeding until after he left the accident. It was then that the New England Patriots linebacker headed to the hospital, where Darius received 22 stitches in his leg. It seems that Fleming really is a hero in a story where he wasn’t even looking for credit. If not for those stitches in Fleming’s leg, we might not even know about his heroic rescue. It’s too bad that Darius’ good samaritan move was marred by claims that he might have actually been lying about it. Thankfully, many who cast doubt on Darius Fleming’s story have stepped forward to apologize to the NFL hero.

[Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]