AP Photo / City of Atlanta Department of Corrections
In this booking photo provided by the City of Atlanta Department of Corrections, Courtney Fuhrmann is shown. Fuhrmann, 28, was in the car with University of Georgia athletic director Damon Evans when he was arrested late Wednesday on charges of driving under the influence. Fuhrman was charged with disorderly conduct after repeatedly ignoring warnings to stay inside the car while the trooper was conducting a field sobriety test.
ATLANTA — University of Georgia athletic director Damon Evans repeatedly referred to his position at the school before his arrest on a drunken driving charge and asked the patrol officer if there was “anything you can do without arresting me,” according to a police report released Friday.
Evans told the Georgia State Patrol officer several times he was the school’s athletic director before he was arrested late Wednesday and charged with DUI and failure to maintain a lane, according to the report. Also arrested with him was 28-year-old Courtney Fuhrmann, who was charged with disorderly conduct.
“I am not trying to bribe you but I am the athletic director of the University of Georgia,” Evans said, according to the officer identified in the report as M. Cabe.
The officer also said that Evans asked to be taken to a motel instead of jail or to be let off with a warning. According to the report, Evans later said: “I am not trying to bribe you, but is there anything you can do without arresting me?”
In the report, the officer noted he found a “red pair of lady’s panties between (Evans’) legs.” When he asked Evans, a 40-year-old married father of two children, what he was doing with the underwear, Evans said: “She took them off and I held them because I was just trying to get her home,” according to the report.
Evans told the officer that Fuhrmann was nothing more than a friend, according to the report. But the officer said that Fuhrmann later told him that the two had been seeing each other for “only a week or so.”
“Just to let you know, it will be erased because he is the athletic director of UGA and he has that power,” Fuhrmann told the officer, according to the report.
She was charged with disorderly conduct after police said she repeatedly ignored warnings to stay inside the 2009 BMW while the trooper was conducting the field sobriety test and later acting “combative” in the back seat of the patrol car, according to the report.
“I apologize and don’t want to use my influence but she is trying to protect me,” the officer said Evans told him.
Fuhrmann told the Associated Press on Friday the charges against her are a “misunderstanding from what the media is portraying it as” but declined to speak further.
Evans and his attorney Steve Weiner did not immediately return calls seeking comment, but Evans apologized for the incident during a news conference in Athens on Thursday and said he “failed miserably.”
“My behavior and my actions are not indicative of what we teach our student athletes,” he said. “My actions have put a black cloud over our storied program.”
School president Michael Adams said in a statement Thursday he was extremely disappointed, but will not decide on disciplinary measures until there is a full review by the university staff and legal office. A UGA spokesman declined to comment Friday on the allegations in the police report.
A bleary-eyed Evans told the officer he drank two vodka martinis at a restaurant and another at a nearby bar, according to the report. The officer noted that Evans had “red, bloodshot, watery eyes and droopy eyelids” and that he fumbled through his cards and dropped some of the items before he handed over his license.
“I feel pretty good,” he told the officer, before laughing for no apparent reason, according to the report. The trooper said Evans later told him: “We go through life and we all drink and jump in a car.”
Evans — a former Georgia football player — became head of the athletic department in 2004, replacing Vince Dooley, who was forced to step aside after a nasty spat with Adams. Dooley had been at the school for 40 years, including 25 years as athletic director.
Evans became the Southeastern Conference’s first black athletic director and immediately shook up the department. He bolstered the department’s bottom line but also reduced the number of associate and assistant athletics directors and fired three of Dooley’s longtime lieutenants.
He was the public face of the school’s athletic department, and starred in a taped message played at every home football game that urges fans not to drive under the influence. “If you drink and drive, you lose,” he says.
Evans, who is set to appear in Atlanta Municipal Court on July 12, was arrested minutes before a new five-year contract extension that raised his annual pay to $550,000 was to take effect. By the time he was escorted to the Atlanta jail, the officer said in the report, Evans began to “cry uncontrollably.”
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Comments » 101
TommyJack writes:
So long, good luck.
RockyTopRenegade writes:
I wonder how many resumes were e-mailed to the UGA athletic department today?
osbymartin#581730 writes:
The Georgia AD think he is above the law because he is an Athletic Director??
osbymartin#581730 writes:
i think he had extra incentive to try to get out of it
Orange_Crush writes:
Vince Dooley...next UGA AD?
Colliervol writes:
The girl was not his wife and they just happened to be riding around in Atlanta at midnight? Honest guys, she's "just a friend". (That's what I'd say too.) Yeah, that's the ticket.
As an aside, has anybody heard the public service announcement that the Dawgs had at their stadium last year where Evans asks fans not to drink and drive? Classic.
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
HE'S TOAST!
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
Since it was the day he signed an extension, does he get a buyout??
volspaws writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
d_ray writes:
Vince would be the perfect choice....but there are still too many "Vince haters" in the area. He will never be offered another position at UGA.
AtLeastMyTeamHasPerfectSeasons writes:
All of those will be removed by site staff bartlett..thx anyways!
Colliervol writes:
Haven't seen her picture but somebody said she brings new meaning to that "Hunker down hairy dawg" phrase.
osbymartin#581730 writes:
here she is...
http://televisioninternet.com/news/pi...
Colliervol writes:
It's like I heard a comedienne talk about Tiger Woods the other night. She said, "If you're going to cheat, you should at least take a step up."
Of course as Mickey Gilley opined: "The Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time"! Mr. Evans might have been a victim of that malady.
volspaws writes:
AJC is reporting that the red panties are the ones actually worn on the sideline by Mark Richt during games
CCLC writes:
Why does our current AD not have a driver? For what I gather and remember, Dooley always did.
Then again, maybe Evans prefers his driver not be privy to his extra-curriculars.
My guess is that Evans resigns. I think Evans is a great AD that was on the verge of superstardom. I hate to lose him. I just don't see how the UGA Athletic office can be so hypocritical to keep its head man.
And if they do, the ridiculousness will be tenfold when the next UGA student-athlete is suspended (or worse) do to an alcohol related offense.
mrvol2u writes:
Wow, caught driving drunk and cheating on wife. Bet the DUI is cheaper.
Feel sorry for his 2 kids and wife.
vol4gzus writes:
Spelling moment 101.....last sentence said,"do to an...". Did ewe mean due to? Or is that Dawg speak?
On topic,sad that power might have blinded him to forget his wife and children. The landscaper said the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Hope he can reconcile this with his family and gets help....
oskie_score writes:
Not only did Evans use extremely poor judgment but he too is a hypocrite..."My behavior and actions are not indicative of what I teach our student athletes". HA!
Okay, so (imho) Evans is 2-for-2 (soon to be Fired & Divorce Court)...what, no hat trick??? Clown!
Hey Mike Adams, how you feeling right now??? Obtuse?!!?
vol4gzus writes:
"Our guy" Kirby Smart...???? I don't know a Kirby Smart on VOL staff. VOL SITE people help me remember where he is on UT staff.
thevoice writes:
Were those Tebow's panties? I bet Urban is ticked!
rockytopatl writes:
SECFB is a notorious Tide troll. Smart is Alabama's D-coordinator who played at UGA.
tnbigg writes:
Moron
CadmiumOchre (Inactive) writes:
Who let the dog out: Arf! Arf! Arf!
Seriously, I feel sorry for the guy's family. But he was DUMB to do what he did. Obviously he was out celebrating his good fortune contract. Should have grilled some chicken or steaks at home with the wife and kids and then could drink all he wanted and fell in his bed. Then the only thing he'd get is a condemnation from his wife of being a limp limpet.
HollySpringsVOL writes:
That's funny.
vol4gzus writes:
Thanks...I knew that and that was why I said,"VOL SITE." Like his buddy shen42 or as I refer to as 24nehs are trollers who have lost their way. Does alabammer have a website? Just tuff to get internet when they have to decide between that and going to Walmart to see the trophy. Is Saban's statue going to be at Walmart or stadium? Which stadium? Bryan-Denney or other one? Tuscalooser or Bummingham?
The thrill has got me shiverring......not.
Like many have said I don't go to other teams sites to try and agitate other fans of theirs. We hope our team wins and leave them to ponder on it for the next year.
buzz29 writes:
Too much good stuff and so little time. Love the red panties. May be a good "bring to" for the football game. GA co-ed's may be attracted. I know the Mrs. is on our side, but we may just convert ol' Vince after all when you consider his spat with Adams.
Slystone writes:
This is just shameful!!! What was he thinking?
Signed Mark Sanford,
Governor of SC
jmr68ut writes:
Kinky, but just an unfortunate misunderstanding.
Pullingguard writes:
Auughhh, Just a friend that I am trying to get home, and to keep focused I am holding her red
panties in my lap... Remember officer, Red is
the dog's color, and I am the AD; yes, it all
adds up...
volspaws writes:
I still remember the day my father sat me atop the old oak stump and said "Son, if you ever meet a woman that asks you to help her find her way home, ask for her panties"
sol_way writes:
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tnsportsman writes:
I thought uga wore the red panties, ROFLMAO!
But Darlin, she is just a friend, LOL.
Georiga, Georiga how'd you like to bite my azz, (I mean red panties), LOL!
GO VOLS, WE ARE UT
SuckTheseVols98 writes:
hahahahahahahahaha
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Adios.
cphil writes:
Oh, well.
Couchdummy writes:
Geesh!! And I thought I had a bad day. I can't help but feel sorry for the poor guy.
smokeyvol1 writes:
Too bad we don't have them at home this year. Could you imagine as they are coming out of the tunnel we bombard them with red panties on national tv!
sambad writes:
He was going to promote the waving of red panties every time the dogs scored a touchdown this season. I'm totally sure that the arresting officer checked to make sure they didn't belong to his passenger who he had offered a ride when he saw her broken down auto by the side of the road. What a gentleman. Too bad he is being accused of ungentlemanly activities.
TheFuj writes:
Pathetic. DUI and cheating. Fine example. Should resign or be fired immediately. I am sure he will claim he is an alcoholic and sex addict.
KiwiLuvsUT writes:
I feel bad for the kids and wife.One of my friends(from 6th grade) found out that his dad cheated on his mom. The mom just kinda collapsed. I dont wish something like this on anyone.
Drop the panties at the games thing. Think about the lil kids.
nocleats writes:
He is gone, next!
Razor784 writes:
No way he can survive this, the DUI plus the cheating on his wife will get him. At least with Mike Hamilton, we know we have a class act as our AD
utclassof1992 writes:
Mike Hamilton hasnt seen a pair of panties since he helped his mom zip up her dress when he was ten.
flafan2001 writes:
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CCLC writes:
More like Greg McGarity. Derek would have to take a pay cut.
FWBVol writes:
I don't think Derek Dooley is going anywhere. He said Tennessee is his destination job.
Your post only shows the fear other teams are starting to develop at the thought of what Derek Dooley will build at UT.
By the way, love your screen name as every time you post Tennessee fans will remember a Big Orange win at the Swamp in Steve Spurrier's final home game as the Florida head ball coach.
FEARinSEC writes:
Oh my.... Players are one thing, but AD's???
And the undisputed heavyweight Fulmer Cup champion of the world is.....
THE GEORGIA BULLDOGS!!!!!! (Crowd howling in the background!!)
PATHETIC!!!
taylorsvolfan writes:
Stay thirsty my friends
flafan2001 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
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