Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
As it turns out, Dianna Russini didn’t FaceTime an NFL head coach for help in getting out of a ticket for texting while driving.
She claimed she did during a February segment with the Stugotz and Company radio show. Her anecdote was mentioned at the outset of last week’s lengthy article in the New York Times, her former employer.
The bodycam video of the Dianna Russini traffic stop has now been posted by Adam Herbets of the Center Square.
The seven minute, 10 second video includes the entire traffic stop. At no point does it include a FaceTime call to any head coach.
After the officer approaches her car, Russini says, “I’m an NFL reporter, and I just broke that Sean McDermott got fired from the Bills. And that I what I was just sending to send [sic], a tweet. I was gonna pull over, because I have to make calls. I know you don’t care, but I just wanted you to know my reason why.”
The officer says, “Obviously you were on your phone for a while. . . . I understand you’ve got a job.”
Then, Russini says, “You know who I was on the phone with? Brian Daboll. He wants the job.”
Next, she asks the officer if he’s a fan of the Giants or Jets.
“I’m actually — I’m not a fan of either,” the officer says.
“What is your team?” Russini replies.
“I’m a Vikings fan, unfortunately,” he said.
Russini then shows him her phone, and a text exchange with Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell. But she didn’t FaceTime O’Connell. She simply showed the officer her phone.
She also added, regarding the Vikings, their “quarterback sucks.”
After going to his vehicle, the officer eventually returns and says, “I’m gonna cut you a break on the cellphone. I understand your job requires you to be on the phone a lot. Just try to wait ‘til you get home, OK?”
And that was that. There was never a FaceTime. So, while it made for an interesting radio story on a radio show, it never happened.
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