Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown must pay $1.2 million after tussle with truck driver, jury finds
A South Florida jury has decided that ex-NFL star and Miami native Antonio Brown must pay $1.2 million after a driver said he was attacked at the athlete’s Hollywood home over two years ago.
The verdict earlier this month is the result of a 2021 civil lawsuit filed in Broward County by Anton Tumanov when Brown was still with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The driver said at the time that he suffered severe injuries, economic losses and mental anguish, a court document shows.
The Oct. 7 judgment against Brown, president of rapper Kanye West-owned marketing sports agency Donda Sports, was first reported by WPLG-Channel 10.
In January 2020, what began as an argument over $4,000 — the amount Brown was supposed to pay Tumanov to release his goods transported from California — turned into the former wide receiver throwing a rock at the driver’s truck after he declined to complete the delivery until he was paid, he told police. After Brown — now 32 years old — agreed to pay the delivery fee and to cover the damage to the truck, Tumanov told investigators he drove back to Brown’s home to deliver the property, according to a police report.
When Tumanov arrived, Brown paid the $4,000 but declined to pay for the damage to the truck. That’s when another argument happened, Tumanov told police, and Brown started to grab and pull the driver, who ended up with a ripped shirt, and several scratches and a cut.
But the confrontation didn’t end there. Tumanov said Brown’s trainer, Glenn Holt, told the driver to give him the truck’s keys to get the goods. When Tumanov refused, he told police that Holt grabbed the keys from the ignition, and when the driver tried to take them from Holt, his hand was cut by one of the keys.
With the keys in hand, Brown and other “friends” began grabbing boxes from the truck, according to the police report. When Tumanov told them they were grabbing boxes from another client, they threw them back into the truck — damaging some of the property.
READ MORE: Incident at NFL player Antonio Brown’s Hollywood house ends with one arrest
When Hollywood police officers arrived, they arrested Holt but were unable to take Brown into custody because he had gone inside his home. That prompted police to issue an arrest warrant for Brown on charges of burglary with assault or battery, burglary of an unoccupied vehicle and criminal mischief. As a result, Brown turned himself in days later at Broward’s jail.
READ MORE: Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown walked out of jail in a fancy suit — and an ankle monitor
In criminal court, Brown pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced in 2020 to two years’ probation. He was also ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation and to participate in a 13-week anger management program. Brown’s trainer, Holt, also pleaded no contest to burglary with assault or battery and was made to pay $266 in fees, county court records show.
Magnet of controversies
Brown grew up in Liberty City and graduated from Miami Norland High School. He was all set to go to Florida International University, where he would have played with childhood friend T.Y Hilton, but wound up going to Central Michigan.
Though one of the NFL’s best wide receivers, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded Brown to Oakland. Problems in Oakland — including a reported confrontation with general manager Mike Mayock — led to his release in 2019 before he played a game. He was picked up by New England just in time to play the Miami Dolphins in September.
READ MORE: Six things to know about the Raiders releasing wide receiver Antonio Brown
It would be his only game of the season. Just days before the Patriots-Dolphins game, Britney Taylor, a fitness trainer, filed a federal lawsuit in 2019 alleging Brown raped her. Five days after the game, still fielding questions about how they would handle the case, the Patriots released Brown. And shortly after news of the lawsuit became public, another woman detailed incidents of sexual misconduct involving Brown in a story published by Sports Illustrated.
Nearly a month after the lawsuit was filed, Taylor voluntarily dismissed it, federal court records show. Brown, who had repeatedly denied the rape allegations, reached a settlement with Taylor in April last year, The New York Times reported.
READ MORE: Miami suit claims NFL star receiver Antonio Brown raped fitness trainer; he denies claim
In January 2020, an NFL free agent, Brown was back in the news as he cursed out and shook a bag of penis-shaped gummies at Hollywood police following an altercation with his ex-girlfriend. Hollywood police said they had enough with Brown and his disrespectful behavior, returned a check he’d donated and forbade him from working with their kids’ program.
READ MORE: Former NFL star Antonio Brown waved a ‘bag of d--ks’ at cops. Police banned him from PAL
Brown later announced in July 2020 that he would retire with a cryptic string of tweets. “I came i saw i conquered mission complete Call God,” he said in one of the tweets.
READ MORE: Antonio Brown done with the NFL? The Miami native says he’s retiring on Twitter
But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers added Brown to their offense in October 2020. In January, Brown stripped off his pads and uniform, throwing some gear to fans in the stands, before walking off the field during a game against the New York Jets.
READ MORE: NFL fans boggle as Tampa Bay player Antonio Brown strips and leaves field mid-game
The Bucs finally terminated Brown’s contact in the summer after he accused the team of pressuring him to play through an ankle injury despite being in “extreme pain,” Sky Sports reported. The team said Brown never highlighted his injury to the medical team.
And on Tuesday, Brown defended antisemitic comments by Kanye West (who now goes by Ye) in a statement posted on Twitter.
“None of us in this world are free of judgment,” Brown said about his boss’ remarks.
