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Sutherland Situation Keeps Getting Worse
May 22 2002
By Bryan Hersh of 49ers Paradise
On Monday we learned that Vinny Sutherland got into a car accident with rookies Josh Shaw and Kevin Curtis in his car, and that there were likely associated charges. On Tuesday the chargers were declared as driving under the influence and leaving the scene of the accident, both of which are felony charges. Despite the obvious bad influence Sutherland has shown the young players involved, there’s still more negative information about the collision.

Let me preface by saying that Sutherland has not been proven to have more than the legal limit of alcohol in his body yet - and thus we all may be jumping to conclusions. But personally, driving a car while intoxicated is one of the dumbest things anyone can do, so excuse me while I ‘jump’.

It has been reported that Sutherland was driving with a suspended license. He was under probation for a previous DUI that he was charged with just before signing with the team last season. This is Sutherland’s second such charge. It’s also been reported that a $7500 warrant was out on Sutherland for skipping out on some of his probation rules. Like I said it just keeps getting worse.

Both Shaw (who stayed at the scene) and Curtis who fled with Sutherland, fingered Sutherland as the driver to the police. Take what you want from that. But one thing I found interesting, is that were I live, a witness is not allowed to leave the scene of an accident too - Curtis was very lucky no such law existed in Santa Clara.

We will likely learn more about this situation in the coming days, but Sutherland has certainly made his job much more difficult in landing a roster spot. The team may jump for a guy like Jamal Robertson or Ken Simonton who are both character guys looking to make the team in any capacity.

Talk about it in the 49ers Paradise Forum

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