Report: Video, DMs implicate Baker, Dunbar in paying off robbery victims
Warning: Story contains coarse/offensive language
Police obtained video footage and direct messages suggesting that a friend of New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar oversaw the payoff of four alleged victims of an armed robbery, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports.
Baker and Dunbar were charged with armed robbery after witnesses said Baker pointed a gun at party attendees on May 13 and directed two other men, including Dunbar, to take their money and valuables.
The evidence is cited in a search warrant Leonard obtained through a public records request. The warrant is seeking access to iCloud accounts associated with Baker and Dunbar.
According to the warrant, witness Dominic Johnson, who allegedly oversaw the payoff, wrote in an Instagram direct message May 16:
I made them same n----- that said they got robbed come in and say them Boys ain't have nothing to Do with it
The four alleged victims gave sworn statements that they were paid a combined total of $55,000 to recant their initial statements against Dunbar. One man told police he received $30,000, another said he received $20,000, and the other two split $5,000.
Miramar Police Department detective Mark Moretti also detailed direct messages between Baker and Johnson, who previously told police he'd known both players since they were children.
"Johnson is telling Baker to come to (Dunbar's lawyer's) office," Moretti wrote. "Baker replied, 'Yo I'm in the city now getting cash how much to bring ?? I'm tryna get there too u ASAP.'"
In an Instagram message on May 15, Johnson allegedly wrote: "We all heading to the lawyer now to get the charges dropped."
According to the warrant, CCTV video shows Johnson, Dunbar's attorney Michael Grieco, and an unidentified individual meeting with the four alleged victims at Grieco's office that day. The unknown person and Johnson are seen on video exchanging cash in the elevator, Moretti writes.
One of the victims was "directed that he didn't see what he thought he saw" at the meeting, according to the warrant.
The detective said that 45 minutes after the meeting, Grieco notified him that the victims and witness had changed their testimony.
Both Baker and Dunbar pleaded not guilty to four counts each of armed robbery with a firearm. Baker also faces four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and pleaded not guilty to all four.
In separate statements, the lawyers for Baker and Dunbar denied that the alleged victims were paid off.
This is utterly false and defamatory to Andre Baker. We do not have any affidavits from the alleged victims of this offense, nor did these "victims" change the story as to dre baker. We accused the "victims" of extortion and reported to authorities from day 1.
— Bradford Cohen (@bradfordcohen) July 11, 2020
"Law enforcement, both local and federal, was advised from Day 1 and beyond that the alleged 'victims' in this case were actively extorting both Baker and Dunbar," Grieco said in a statement to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
Baker, a 2019 first-round draft pick, is not expected to remain on the Giants much longer, team sources told Leonard.