Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Purifoy Arrested After ‘Riot’ at Regina Restaurant | The Canadian News

Saskatchewan Roughriders player Loucheiz Purifoy says he was with his teammates at a Regina restaurant where a “riot” occurred last weekend.

The Canadian Football League (CFL) franchise announced Tuesday that it was recently reported that Purifoy “was having a riot party” on the night of November 28 following the team’s victory in the West semi-final.

“I have no idea what was going on with the altercation that was going on,” Purifoy said.

“The… part of the disturbance. I had nothing to do with it. I was in the middle because I’m talking to a manager and people are arguing, so I’m in the middle. This is how I looked.

“I was there with teammates … My teammates will tell you that I was defusing the situation, to be honest.”

The 28-year-old Florida native said he was talking to a restaurant manager about his food.

“My food I didn’t eat for two and a half hours at Earls,” Purifoy said.

“I should have stayed in the house but I was hungry, man. I was hungry. I can’t help it. “

On Tuesday afternoon, the Regina Police Service (RPS) announced that it was called to an alleged assault in connection with an incident at a restaurant in the 2600 block of 28th Avenue around 10:35 p.m. on November 28. .

“The information received in the call indicated that a man and a woman were involved in a disturbance inside the restaurant and had just left the premises,” a press release read.

“When the police arrived, there were several people standing outside; the officers targeted two specific individuals who were detained without incident. “

Police said they took a statement from a 22-year-old female employee who was allegedly struck in the face by the 31-year-old woman in custody. Officials said the employee did not require medical assistance.

Mariesa Natalia Giovannetti, from Regina, faces a common assault charge. She was released with a commitment to appear before a provincial court on January 17, 2022.

“(She is) my friend,” Purifoy said when asked about a woman accused of common battery.

“We were all together. I was also with my colleagues “.

RPS said the man who was detained was not charged and was once released “calm and sober … (and) this is a typical provision to prevent a person who is intoxicated from breaking the peace.”

“I was part of a party. There was a riot and they called the police and detained me overnight without charges for breaking the peace, ”Purifoy said.

“I guess I got tough with the waitress.”

The Rider said he was released from detention on Monday.

“I don’t even want to talk about the police. I do not. That is your job. They did their job. I can’t get mad at them for doing their job, ”Purifoy said.

“It’s life. I mean, I made a mistake. It happens. They didn’t charge me. I just had to sleep in a cell… I don’t want to go back.

“I could have avoided the whole situation. At the end of the day, the situation had to happen. So I could have gotten out of the situation. He was upset about my food. “

Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson and Purifoy were available to the media Tuesday morning at Mosaic Stadium.

“We know that we are recognized in this community, so we wanted to make sure we were in front of it and just apologize for what happened and take responsibility and move on,” Dickenson said.

“I think Loucheiz feels bad about what happened. He knows that as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, we are all held to a higher standard and have a code of conduct and that was a violation of it, and there will be some internal discipline because of that.

“But I think the main thing is that he realizes that he made a mistake and he wants to acknowledge it and we support him because he is still a member of this team. We are disappointed and embarrassed by it, but we also support it. “

With Saskatchewan set to play the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the western final on Sunday, Purifoy said he wanted to get ahead of the news and not be a pregame distraction.

“I don’t want to be a distraction in a bad way at all. Of course, no. I don’t get in trouble. I don’t do this… I’m here to play ball. I am here to respect my team. I’m here to respect this community, ”Purifoy said.

“We have a journey that we are still on now and I don’t want this to be a hassle.

“This will not happen again. This will not be a distraction and we still have a goal. “

Dickenson said he didn’t know what the internal discipline would be or whether or not Purifoy will play this coming weekend.

“I can’t say for sure,” Dickenson said.

“Every game is important… he is our teammate. He is our family. We’re not going to make an example of someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and should have left five minutes before him. “

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