Plaxico Burress Back In Court Over Damaged Car

The NFL’s resident paragon of class, Plaxico Burress, is in legal hot water again.  While not as severe as the felony firearms rap he faces in New York City after he managed to shoot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub called the “Latin Quarter”, he’ll be in court on Wednesday in Pennsylvania to determine how much money he’ll owe to a Lebanon County car dealer in exchange for damages on a leased 2004 Chevy Avalanche.
As is the case in most of Plax’s legal troubles, the dust up over the Chevy SUV results from his seeming inability to make good decisions and/or his mistaken perception that he’s a “thug” or a “gangsta” and can get away with this sort of malfeasance.  According to Chevy dealer Frederick Laurenzo, he worked out a deal with Burress in which Plax would “borrow” the vehicle with a book value of $36,000 in exchange for signing autographs at promotional events.
Not surprisingly, what seemed to Laurenzo like a clever bartered arrangement to get some PR for his dealership turned into a nightmare.  He learned what the NY Giants are finding out the hard way—that you make a deal with Plax at your own peril.  As Burress is above rubbing shoulders with anyone other than “A-listers” and “VIPs” there was no way he’d be seen signing autographs for the unwashed masses in Pennsylvania’s Dutch County.  
In the meantime, Plax decided to give the car—which he didn’t own—to one of his “boys” to drive.  When Burress didn’t hold up his end of the deal by doing his agreed upon promotional appearances, Laurenzo demanded the vehicle back.   Burress never returned the vehicle, of course, since he no doubt reasoned that as a NFL player and “wanna-be OG” he was above such trivial matters.
At some point, the vehicle was seized by New York City police with considerable damage.  Laurenzo filed a civil suit and with his legal team presumably occupied with the more pressing task of keeping him out of “calendar hall” on his felony weapons beef, he’s going to have to show up in court where a judge will rule how much big of a check Plax will have to scratch out to Laurenzo.  Not surprisingly, one of Plax’s attorneys, Matthew T. Croslis, had nothing to say about the case when asked.
As yet another cautionary tale for NFL players who like to think they’re “gangstas”, Burress was suspended by the Giants for the remainder of the season after his weapons charge.  He’s now staring at some serious potential prison time under New York’s mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for weapons offenders.