The Napa Police Department intends to question Raiders coach Tom Cable, after recently reopening the case that Cable allegedly punched out assistant coach Randy Hanson, ESPN is reporting.
A Napa Police spokesperson did not specify when or where Cable would be questioned, but noted that they had been contacted by and are working with NFL Security.
Sources close to Hanson have told the National Football Post that Hanson alleges Cable socked him in the jaw, threw him around and threatened him in an Aug. 5 donnybrook at the Napa Valley Marriott where the Raiders hold training camp.
Coach Cable has only said publicly that "nothing happened," and "when all the facts come out, everything will be fine."
Cable could face aggravated assault felony charges or worse, but Hanson is also likely to bring a civil suit. That's where his delay to report the incident hurts him. "That he waited to talk to the police only when he saw (the incident) would hurt his pocketbook and career is the problem," says San Francisco Examiner legal analyst Melissa Griffin. "You could just paint him as a scorned employee who is exaggerating."
But that won't help Tom Cable with any of the criminal charges, that argument can only limit the size of any settlement Randy Hanson might get from the Raider organization. "Claims that Hanson is embellishing can lower, but not eliminate, the amount the team might have to pay," says Ms. Griffin.
Hanson hasn't been officially let go by the team, but he hasn't been seen at a single Raider function in three weeks.
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"Hanson's future with the team is currently being addressed," a Raiders executive told ESPN.
The problem for the Raiders is that it's being addressed by Hanson's lawyers and the Napa Police.
Joe Kukura is a freelance writer whose chances of turning his head into a mahogany desk are better than Randy Hanson's chances of being retained by the Raiders.
