UPDATE: Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray has released a statement regarding the arrest of Ryan O’Reilly.
We are aware of the reports regarding the incident involving Ryan O’Reilly last week. We are currently in the process of gathering more information and will have no further comment until we have spoken with all parties involved.
ORIGINAL: One of the newest members of the Buffalo Sabres, Ryan O’Reilly, is finding himself in some pretty hot water.
Less than two weeks after signing a team-record seven-year, $52.5 million contract with the Sabres, the Clinton, Ontario native was arrested in Middlesex County on Monday. He is charged with driving a motor vehicle while impaired as well as failing to remain at the scene of an accident. According to a police report, the 24-year old O’Reilly was driving a green pickup truck and struck a Tim Horton’s Cafe & Bake Shop on Thursday, July 9.
After the accident, police believe that the suspect drove the vehicle for a bit before leaving it abandoned with another individual. The vehicle was then linked to O’Reilly thanks to an Instagram post with the truck in question. O’Reilly deactivated his Twitter account on Monday afternoon.
O’Reilly will now have to report to court in London, Ontario on August 20 to answer to the charges, according to AM 980 in London, which first reported the arrest on Monday evening. Under law, O’Reilly is subject to a variety of penalties for a first-time offense, including a mandatory treatment program, one year minimum requirement to drive a vehicle with an ignition device, $1,000 fine and a license suspension of one year. There is also no minimum jail sentence.
The Sabres have been reached for comment on the matter, and this article will be updated should they release one.