Three University of Alabama Police Department officers are listed as the victims in the reckless endangerment charges against defensive back Dre Kirkpatrick Jr., according to newly released court documents.
The 19-year-old UA sophomore was arrested over the weekend on three counts of reckless endangerment, attempting to elude, reckless driving and failure/refusal to comply with first-responders’ orders.
He also received traffic citations for not wearing a seat belt, tinted windows and reasonable and prudent speed.
“Unfortunately, with the information I have at this time, talked to Dre, and we need to indefinitely suspend him,” Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. “He understands there are consequences that come with his actions.”
Charging documents said the ordeal began at 2:44 a.m. Saturday in the 1200 block of University Boulevard.
UAPD Lt. Michael Rice and Officers Douglas Best and Christopher Fuerch attempted to stop a white Mercedes sedan that had been seen in the area, “exhibiting excessive speed and reckless driving.”
The officer were on foot, Fuerch wrote in the deposition, and tried to have the sedan pull into the ride-share lane in front of the police precinct on The Strip.
The Mercedes began moving toward the ride-share lane and them pulled back toward the driving lane.
Rice and Fuerch were in front of the sedan.
“He continued to approach officers, who placed their hands on the hood hoping the driver would stop,” Fuerch wrote in the report. “The driver continued forward and officers moved out of the path of the vehicle as it sped off.”
The deposition says officers struck the Mercedes and the driver side window in an attempt to get the driver to stop.
“TPD and UAPD officers attempted to follow the vehicle with no success,” Fuerch wrote.
“I visually identified the driver as UA student D’Andre Javon Kirkpatrick, with whom I have had multiple interactions on The Strip.”
The incident was captured on surveillance video, as well as Fuerch’s body worn camera.
Kirkpatrick was booked into the Tuscaloosa County Jail midday Saturday and released within the hour after posting $1,500 bond.
Kirkpatrick’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kirkpatrick’s father, Dre Kirkpatrick Sr., played for Coach Nick Saban at Alabama from 2009-2011.
Kirkpatrick Sr. then went on to an NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals, Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.
Kirkpatrick Jr. was Saban’s first legacy commit during the coach’s tenure.
A three-star UA sophomore defensive back from Gadsden City High School, his final four included Missouri, Arkansas and Auburn.
He has seen time in all eight games so far this season.
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