Police: Much of the Hyde reporting is wrong
CPD public information officer says many of the stories about the case are incorrect
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WTVN) -- There has been a lot of misinformation reported about the assault case Ohio State running back Carlos Hyde is a person of interest in.
"It's been reckless up to this point," said Columbus Police Sgt. Rich Weiner who serves as the public information officer. "Everybody seems to have a source and they're going with it. They think that whatever their source is telling them is gospel. Be careful because the investigation is ongoing."
Stories about the situation started with reports that Hyde punched a woman in the face and knocked her out at a downtown Columbus bar. Then it was reported that he hit her with his elbow. Yahoo! Sports reported that they had talked with someone that viewed surveillance video showing Hyde never struck the woman. NBC4 reporter Mindy Drayer reported Hyde did make contact after she was shown the video.
"There's more information that's not true than is true from the reports," Weiner said.
Weiner wouldn't discuss the case, but did say among the errors were reports that the victim was knocked out and that Hyde never touched the woman.
"You've got to be careful because people listen and people read and then they take that as the truth," he said.
Investigators have seen the video, but Weiner says that's just one piece of the puzzle they are looking at. He says the still have not interviewed the woman or Hyde. Weiner wouldn't talk about why those interviews had not yet happened.
"We have no horse in this race. Our interest right now is justice either for the victim or the accused," he said.
Police aren't putting a timetable on the investigation because Weiner says it will be looked at until there is no other evidence to look in to. At that point they'll turn the case over to the prosecutor.
"We're talking about a misdemeanor crime here. There won't be any felony as far as the facts are concerned," Weiner said.
Weiner says the most important thing to remember is that this case, no matter the outcome, has already impacted the lives of both the woman and Hyde. That's why he says it's vital to make sure they find out what really happened that night.
"I think we owe it to them that the process be allowed to continue and then we finally come to a resolution in this case," he said.
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