Carl, Carl, Carl . . .

How the mighty have fallen:

Two Minneapolis police officers found themselves "in the fight of their lives" Wednesday against a man who fled from them, hit them and threw one on a car. They didn't realize at first that the man was Minnesota Vikings legend Carl Eller, and they were "crushed" when they found out.

Police Inspector Mike Martin said Eller sped through a stop sign in his neighborhood near Theodore Wirth Park, led police on a chase that reached more than 60 mph and assaulted officers when they tried to arrest him.

Officers smelled alcohol on Eller's breath, but they won't know how much he was drinking because Eller refused to take breath or blood tests, Martin said.

Police used Tasers on Eller four times and put him in a neck hold to restrain him.

It got me to thinking about the trouble he had in 1999,

It remains to be seen how those considerations will play out in the more recent case involving Eller. According to North Mankato police reports, a woman called police from a pay phone at a SuperAmerica at about 2:00 a.m. on April 21, saying she'd been sexually assaulted. Capt. Wayne Hoffman, one of the investigating officers, says the woman is a student at Mankato State University.

and 1988 before that.

St. Peter Police Department records show that on November 14, 1988, Catherine reported having been "inappropriately touched" by Eller, who was on campus to speak to students about sobriety. Eller was never arrested or charged in connection with the incident. He declined to speak to City Pages about the case for this story; in a statement released through Andrew Birrell, the attorney who is representing him in the North Mankato case, he acknowledges that "there was a claim in 1988, but it was never charged because I was innocent and there wasn't any evidence to support the charge."

Almost like he is on some 9/10 year plan.

He once again finds himself facing some pretty serious charges. What a distraction from his glory days. Shame, really!

Flash