Kyle Dubas found out about Auston Matthews’ alleged pants-down incident just like the rest of us.
The Maple Leafs general manager claims he found out about the incident — in which Matthews and others are accused of drunkenly harassing a military veteran security guard who was doing paperwork in her car — when he read about it on Twitter on Tuesday.
“No. 1 that there was a situation and No. 2, the way in which we found out,” Dubas, who apparently called Matthews after hearing what happened, told reporters. “I think both are disappointing and will be addressed and we’ll roll from there.
“I would have liked to have known before, but I’m happy that in the moment, when he could have ducked away or deferred, that he was honest with me.”
Matthews, who was drafted No. 1 overall by the Maple Leafs in 2016, wasn’t arrested, but the case was passed on to the prosecutor’s office for further review. Matthews was scheduled for a pretrial conference Wednesday morning he reportedly was not required to attend.
After Wednesday’s preseason game, Matthews told reporters it was “an error in judgment on my part” not informing the Maple Leafs about the incident.
Video of the security guard, Fayola Dozithee, being interviewed by police in the aftermath of the incident was also leaked to TMZ Sports on Wednesday.
“I was pissed” Dozithee told the police officer.
She recalls telling the group of men, “You do not approach a female at 2:00 in the morning thinking it’s funny to see how she would react. There’s three of you, and one of me. You could have done anything to me and I’m at a disadvantage because of that.”
Dozithee added, “I knew at that point, I needed them to get away from me.”
Police are still still looking into whether Matthews had his boxers on when he allegedly pulled his pants down. If he was nude he can receive an additional charge of public sexual indecency.
The 22-year-old issued an initial statement before Wednesday’s game.
“I regret that any of my actions put a distraction on the team or distressed any individual,” Matthews told reporters. “I take a lot of pride in preparing myself for the season and representing the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as I can.”