Donte Whitner's role in Cleveland fight

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Buffalo Bills Safety Donte Whitner isn't talking too much Sunday morning about being arrested.

Police in Cleveland say they tasered the Bills' star safety Saturday, for his role in a fight outside of a restaurant.

Cleveland police responded to a near riot outside the House of Blues around 3 a.m. Saturday.

Police say Bills safety Donte Whitner tried to move closer to the action and violently swung his arms at officers controlling the scene.

They restrained him, but police say he broke free and took a fighting stance.

An officer then used a taser to subdue Whitner.

He spent the night in jail.

"People have advised me not to say too much, I'm not going to say too much today but I am innocent and in the coming weeks and months people will see," Donte Whitner said.

Whitner says he was at a party for Dolphins wide receiver Ted Ginn. He told police his cousin was in the crowd and believed some of the people had guns.

Whitner's the third Bills player to have a brush with the law so far this year.

Running back Marshawn Lynch is suspended for the first three games for a February gun possession arrest in California.

Safety Ko Simpson was arrested outside a South Carolina bar in January.

"It's huge but you can't teach character. That's one of those things when you bring players in you're taking everything that comes with them, all the background and all that sort of stuff. If you get the wrong guys in there, coach, any of that's not going to make a difference," said Nick Carriere of Buffalo.

But fans seem to have a soft spot for Whitner, who gave a young cancer patient tickets to a Bills game in November 2007 in his box suite.

"For the community, it shouldn't hurt our community or our team at all, because this is just a one time incident I don't think it's going to affect us at all," Amy Maloy of Tonawanda said.

Sports card dealer Mike Lewandowski is giving Whitner the benefit of doubt until all the facts come out.

"Friends that get autographs and meet him over in training camp, because you hear stories, people talk, you hear bad, you hear good. I've never heard nothing bad about Whitner ever," said Owner of First N' Goal Cards, Mike Lewandowski.