Police: DeSean Jackson’s former Eagles teammate drove truck found wrecked with bullets, marijuana inside
A photo from Therrian Fontenot's Instagram account shows him, right, with Bucs receiver DeSean Jackson after Tampa Bay's home game against Detroit on Dec. 10.(INSTAGRAM)
Greg Auman
Times staff writer
Published: February 22, 2018
TAMPA — With no witnesses and no video evidence, Tampa Police have stopped investigating a case from Christmas Eve that had a truck belonging to Bucs receiver DeSean Jackson found wrecked and abandoned in a mall parking lot with hollow-point bullets and marijuana found inside.
Police said International Plaza has given "no indication" of wanting to prosecute the case, and Jackson told police that a friend was driving his Chevy Silverado pickup on the night in question, and that the bullets and drugs were not his. The full police report, released Thursday, shows that the alleged driver is a former NFL player who served six months in jail in 2015 after pleading no contest to the burglary of a former teammate's home.
Therrian Fontenot, 35, has known Jackson since they were teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2007-08. Fontenot played two games in the NFL and was allegedly driving when the truck struck a palm tree in the mall parking lot, sustaining "severe and disabling front end damage."
The accident happened the night of a Bucs road game in Charlotte, but Jackson did not travel with the team and was inactive due to an ankle injury. Police responded at 8:28 p.m., after Tampa Bay's flight had arrived home.
The police report states that when Jackson called a cellphone found in the wrecked truck and police answered, he initially "attempted to report the truck stolen" before he "eventually admitted" that his friend was the driver.
The report says that Fontenot had an outstanding warrant related to traffic offenses; Jackson "did not facilitate the driver coming forward" and did not contact the police with any follow-up information on how to find him.
Fontenot's Instagram account shows a picture of him with Jackson at Raymond James Stadium after the Bucs' home game Dec. 10 against Detroit.
In 2015, Fontenot spent six months in jail after he was arrested for burglarizing the home of another NFL receiver, Bernard Berrian, who had been his teammate in college at Fresno State.
Berrian told KFSN that Fontenot had left a barbecue they were both at and broke into his home, and he was alerted by his home security, watching live video and recognizing his friend as the one on camera. Fontenot served six months in jail and had an additional two years of probation, ending last year.
Jackson, who is entering the second year of a three-year, $33.5-million contract with the Bucs, declined comment when asked about the case and his relationship with Fontenot on Thursday.
