Eagles’ Jalen Carter calls incident at Target ‘a misunderstanding’
According to sources, Carter was involved in an incident that involved police and didn't lead to any arrests. “I don’t really know too much about it,” Carter said.
Eagles rookie Jalen Carter said Friday that claims that he and a woman with him stole merchandise from a Center City Target store earlier this week were “probably just a misunderstanding.”
According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, the two were addressed by a Target employee and eventually by the police. Carter wasn’t detained at the scene and there was no police report filed from the incident.
Rumblings about the incident involving the first-round defensive tackle first surfaced on social media on Monday. The woman with Carter was said to have put items into her shopping bags without scanning them before Carter grabbed the bags to leave the store.
“It was probably just a misunderstanding,” said Carter, 22. “I don’t really know too much about it.”
A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson wrote to The Inquirer on Monday, Nov. 20, “We opened an investigation into the incident after reports surfaced on social media.
“There was a report of a disturbance involving a private party and Target staff. There is no complainant and no report of retail theft.”
While at the University of Georgia, Carter faced criminal charges earlier this year for his part in a fatal crash. He pleaded no contest to reckless driving and racing charges in March in the aftermath of the crash that killed a Georgia football player and staffer.
Although he was considered one of the best players available in April’s NFL draft, concerns about his character and conditioning caused him to slide in the first round and land with the Eagles with the ninth overall pick.
He has been productive on the field, even at a position that typically takes rookies longer to adjust to. He has four sacks and 29 total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. No other rookie defensive tackle has more than 20 pressures, by comparison.
Carter has also hosted several community events this season, both in his new city and his native Apopka, Fla. He held a charity event Tuesday at the Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia, where he distributed Thanksgiving meals to 150 kids in the area and he plans to host another later this month in his hometown. He also donated money to an Apopka youth football program after the program was affected by gun violence.
Jeff McLane and Diamond Leung contributed to this report.