By Canadian Press

Woman’s interview with cops released as new details emerge in Matthews case

Sep 26, 2019 | 10:18 PM

TORONTO — The woman pressing a charge against Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews says she may not have done so if her description of events was taken more seriously by the NHL player’s family.

In a body-cam video of a police interview released by Scottsdale Police, security guard Fayola Dozithee says she had heard Matthews’ father Brian was skeptical about the alleged incident in May in the player’s Arizona hometown.

None of the allegations have been proven in court. Attempts to reach Brian Matthews by The Canadian Press were unsuccessful.

Matthews’ lawyer and agent didn’t immediately respond to interview requests. Dozithee also didn’t respond to a request.

Matthews, 22, faces a charge of disorderly conduct and disruptive behaviour. Dozithee says she was sitting in her locked car when a group of men, including Matthews, allegedly tried to get inside the vehicle on May 26 outside the player’s condominium.

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In the interview, Dozithee said she had no intention of going to the cops until the condo manager told her Brian denied her version of the events.

“Now, it’s going to be my goal to show you that ‘no, your son did do this,'” Dozithee said in the police interview.

In the police report, Dozithee said she confronted the group, who she believed to be intoxicated, and during that interaction Matthews withdrew from the conversation and dropped his pants and grabbed his buttocks.

The security guard said Matthews, then 21 years old, kept his underwear on.

Matthews was not arrested.

News of the charge broke on Tuesday. Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said he learned about the charge on Tuesday when looking at Twitter.

Matthews answered questions after Wednesday’s pre-season game in Toronto and didn’t make any excuses for keeping his legal trouble from the team.

“That was an error in judgement, to be honest with you,” the 2016 first-overall draft pick said. “When we received the complaint, got with the legal (representative), try to map out a plan on how to handle the situation, and that’s just an error in judgement on my part.”

The centre said in his statement earlier Wednesday that he regrets “any of my actions that would ever put a distraction on the team or distress any individual.”

Dubas said he’s equally bothered by the alleged incident, and that he was left in the dark.

“Both are disappointing and will be addressed, and we’ll roll from there,” said the GM. “You don’t like ever for there to be any situations, and then when (there are), I think you want to know about them as soon as possible.”

Dubas declined to say what if any impact the situation will have on the captaincy question.

A pre-trial conference was held in Arizona on Wednesday. The City of Scottsdale’s website lists the next court date as Oct. 22.

The Leafs are scheduled to skate on Friday in Toronto before heading to Detroit for a pre-season game.

The Canadian Press