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Photographer won't press charges in alleged Rashee Rice nightclub assault, Dallas police say

KERA | By Toluwani Osibamowo

Published May 21, 2024 at 5:09 PM CDT

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice speaks to the media before the NFL football team's practice Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. A spokeswoman for Rice’s attorney, Texas state Sen. Royce West, confirmed to The Associated Press, late Thursday, April 11, 2024, that Rice turned himself in at the Glenn Heights Police Department, in Texas, on charges including aggravated assault after he and another driver of a speeding sports car allegedly caused a crash involving a half-dozen vehicles on a Dallas highway the previous month.

A Dallas Police spokesperson said the man has signed an affidavit of non-prosecution, but the investigation is ongoing. Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice allegedly punched the photographer outside a club on May 6.

The photographer who reportedly accused Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice of assaulting him outside a Dallas nightclub earlier this month has declined to pursue charges, according to police.

Dallas Police Department spokesperson Kristin Lowman confirmed Tuesday the man has signed an affidavit of non-prosecution, but the investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Neither the victim nor the suspect were identified in the offense report obtained by KERA News, but the Dallas Morning News and WFAA have confirmed Rice was a person of interest in the case.

Lowman said it is not the department's practice to release or confirm a suspect's identity in an investigation.

According to the report, the photographer was attending a May 6 after hours party at the Lit Lounge & Feu Nightclub at 609 N. Harwood St. He left but returned at the request of a man who allegedly asked the photographer to look at Instagram messages on his phone.

While looking down, the man — believed to be Rice — allegedly punched the photographer on the left side of his face.

Texas senator and attorney Royce West, who represents Rice, did not immediately respond to a KERA News request for comment.

Nightclub owner Reza Dibaje told WFAA upon reviewing surveillance video from outside the club it didn't look like the person a detective identified as the accuser was punched.

"We just want to clear our names because the report came out that there was a fight inside our place,” Dibaje told WFAA. “I was in the club the whole night, and I was even outside, and there was no fight in my place.”

Rice and suspended Southern Methodist University cornerback Theodore Knox still face eight criminal charges tied to a multivehicle crash on North Central Expressway in March.

Several victims in that crash are suing Rice in at least two separate lawsuits for millions of dollars in damages.

Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on X @tosibamowo.

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