Rashee Rice News: Nightclub Owner Questions Alleged Assault, Police Examining Footage

According to a new report out of Dallas, the owner of Lit Lounge has questioned the details regarding an alleged assault involving Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Details regarding the alleged assault involving Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice have been sparse since original reports surfaced regarding an alleged incident at Lit Lounge in Dallas. Now, according to a report by CBS News Texas, the owner of the nightclub has questioned the events of early Monday morning.

The CBS story reports that Dallas police are examining security footage from the establishment, with Lit Lounge owner Reza Dibaje saying, "I told him I've got cameras I can show you through my phone what's up," according to CBS.

The CBS News Texas story contains a summary of Dibaje's account, italicized below.

The owner says there are no obvious signs from the video that suggest the accuser was injured or had been assaulted. 
"It doesn't look like a guy that got beat somewhere," Dibaje said.
The club's owner says he had a pleasant exchange with Rice who he says was inside the club here in the VIP area for less than a half hour and didn't order any alcohol. 
"At first I didn't know who he was," said Dibaje. "He was pretty nice. He was pretty calm. He didn't even drink."

Previously, The Dallas Morning News reported that the police report said the alleged victim left the establishment multiple times.

"About 1:55 a.m., the 'suspect' messaged the photographer on Instagram and asked him to return to the nightclub, the report said," according to The News.

The security footage shown in the CBS News Texas report is labeled "05/05/2024 23:56:28 SUN," just before midnight on Sunday evening. The police report said the alleged incident occurred approximately two hours later.

One strange thing in this story: The police report has Rice allegedly messaging the photographer at 1:55 a.m. This video that, as they say, "doesn't look like that man has been assaulted" is timestamped two hours earlier. The next clip shown by CBS has no time stamp. https://t.co/wZaSB0Zof2 pic.twitter.com/mmEjtlkvX7

— Joshua Brisco (@jbbrisco) May 10, 2024

The CBS News Texas report also notes that Dibaje "believes he would have known about it and plans to continue scouring his security cameras for evidence."

"'Cause I wanna make sure," Dibaje said, per CBS News Texas. "Maybe I missed something, I don't know."

Rice's lawyer, Texas state senator Royce West, has not issued a comment since the alleged incident. Rice continues to face eight felony charges for his role in a multi-vehicle crash in Dallas in late March.