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Former Patriot Brandon Spikes charged in hit and run case

By Kyle Franzoni

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The State of Massachusetts will charge former New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes with multiple counts after Spikes left the scene of an accident on July 7th.

The reunion between the New England Patriots and linebacker Brandon Spikes seemed to get off on the right foot earlier this spring when Spikes re-signed with the Patriots and declared that he and head coach Bill Belichick had “kissed and made up.” Another former player buying back into the system and ready to win with “The Hoodie” again.

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However, things took a quick turn for the worse when police found Spikes’ car abandoned on a Massachusetts’ highway with heavy front end damage earlier this week. That led the Patriots to release the veteran just two days later, but those would be the least of Spikes’ worries. Instead, he’ll be focused on the legal ramifications for the near future.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, the State of Massachusetts plans to charge Spikes with multiple counts in connection with the accident and his fleeing of the scene.

The charge of leaving the scene of a personal injury crash could carry with it a sentence of jail time of up to two years. The charge of negligent operation could carry with it an additional 2-1/2 years if Spikes is found guilty and punished to the full extent of the law.

While those are fairly significant penalties, it is doubtful that Spikes would see the inside of a jail cell. More likely, the linebacker will plea down the charges to avoid jail time and a civil suit will follow.

Spikes is a five-year veteran and spent the first four of those years with the England Patriots. The former Florida Gator never quite lived up to expectations while with New England, appearing in 51 games with the Patriots and recording just 174 tackles, two interceptions, and a single sack in four seasons. The Patriots cut him on March 11, 2014 and Spikes found his way to Buffalo, where he appeared in 16 games (10 starts) and recorded 32 tackles and a single sack.

Spikes re-signed with the Patriots on May 18th, a surprise move for the New England and appeared ready to walk a different line after an acrimonious split with the team a year prior. However, his choices in regards to his accident left yet another black-eye on the Patriots, who are still dealing with the fall-out of Deflategate and watched former star tight end (and Spikes’ former teammate at Florida) Aaron Hernandez charged and found guilty of murder over the last couple of seasons. That’s a lot of noise for a defending Super Bowl champion to have to be dealing with in training camp, and was more than likely the reason the team opted to sever its ties with Spikes immediately.

At the time of Hernandez’s conviction, Spikes was very vocal, saying he was “confused by the justice system” that found his former teammate guilty. Now he gets to examine firsthand how that system works.

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