Early this past week, news broke that Buffalo Bills running back Marshawn Lynch was facing a lawsuit stemming from his 2008 hit-and-run incident. This morning, the news gets worse on the Lynch front, as The Buffalo News is reporting that Lynch has been accused of stealing $20 from a woman in Hamburg last month.
The woman is the wife of Buffalo Police Sgt. William Crawford. Lynch allegedly took a $20 bill from the woman, and when her girlfriend confronted Lynch and asked for the money back, he threatened her.
Crawford filed a complaint against Lynch, and with the former Pro Bowl running back out of town after a disappointing 2009 season, a statement has since been given against Lynch. Crawford told the News that his wife and her friend are "terrified" of Lynch, whom he referred to as a "predator." Crawford's hope is that the case lands before a grand jury.
The report also indicates that ten days after the complaint was filed, a letter containing $20 was delivered to the Crawfords' home. Lynch apparently downplayed the situation to Bills officials by telling them that the woman was his friend.
Stemming from misdemeanor gun charges in Los Angeles after an arrest last February, Lynch is currently on three years' probation. He served a three-game suspension at the outset of the '09 season for that arrest, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had a one-on-one meeting with Lynch to warn him against future legal issues. After that meeting, Lynch told reporters, "The message that he gave me came through. I can still feel some of the words running through my body right now as he said them in the meeting."
Lynch carried the ball just 12 times for 28 yards in the Bills' last three games of the season, including just once in a season finale win over Indianapolis.