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Sep 28, 2006 6:21 pm US/Central
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DPD Now Calls Owens Incident 'Accidental Overdose'
by J.D. Miles
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
In yet another twist to the Terrell Owens saga, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said Thursday that Owens' trip to the emergency room this week is being reclassified as an "accidental overdose," rather than an attempted suicide.
CBS 11 News was first to report that Owens had been taken to the Baylor University Medical Center on Tuesday night. In a police report that CBS 11 News obtained the following day, Dallas police officers who responded to the scene wrote in their report that the incident was an "attempted suicide." That was based on Owens' responses to the responding officers.
At a news conference on Wednesday, Owens insisted that he had not tried to kill himself—that instead, he had had a bad reaction to prescription pain pills. Owens said his doctor prescribed hydrocodone following the recent surgery on his broken finger.
Thursday afternoon, Kunkle held a news conference in which he announced the reclassification of the incident. He said the decision came about because of further investigation by detectives.
Kunkle said he has "great confidence in the original officer report," which said rescue workers were called to the scene because of an attempted "suicide by prescription pain medication." The police document also said a friend described Owens as being depressed and that Owens said "Yes" when asked whether he was trying to harm himself.
"The report in my opinion reflects what the officers were told and represents their best interpretation of what happened," Kunkle said at a news conference Thursday. "But that doesn't mean it's the definitive account of the incident. Like all these situations, we're dealing with incomplete information and facts that change."
Kunkle also released a supplemental police report that seems to confirm Owens' Wednesday account of the incident. The report says that Owens was "coherent" when talking to the officers who responded to his house on Tuesday night.
Kunkle says the new information represents a more complete account of the incident.
At Owens' Wednesday news conference his publicist, Kim Etheredge, lashed out at authorities, saying, "I am just upset that I just feel they take advantage of Terrell. Had this been someone else, this may not have happened."
Earlier Thursday, the president of the Dallas Police Association, which represents Dallas police officers, demanded an apology from T.O. and his publicist.
"The officers reacted because they were called to this location to do this job. Now they're being put under a microscope by some fancy little football person," Senior Cpl. Glenn White said. "Give me a break. Those officers are 10 times better than this man. ... We police officers don't go out to these calls and make stuff up."
Thursday, Kunkle also said that Owens and Etheredge were welcome to file a report against the officers if they believe anyone acted inappropriately.
"There's no reason for the officers to do anything inappropriate," he added.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)