A Virginia judge cleared Vikings cornerback Chris Cook on a charge of brandishing a firearm during an argument with a neighbor. WSET-TV in Lynchburg first reported the news.
Cook admitted he got into a verbal altercation with his neighbor in his hometown in March, but he denied brandishing a gun during the dispute.
The man went before a magistrate and swore out a criminal warrant against Cook, who was then arrested and charged with a misdemeanor brandishing a firearm.
In telephone interview Friday, Cook said he testified during an hour-long hearing Friday morning and the judge cleared him in the case.
"I was never concerned," Cook said. "I had good witnesses. All of our stories matched each other. They decided they were basically trying to string this story together and just make me look bad. The judge ruled in my favor. ... The verdict was not guilty and he just dismissed it. I'm just happy to get it over with."
According to his version of events, Cook said he was riding his bike near his home when a man who lives two houses down started screaming at him.
"You're not going to scream at me like I'm your child so I screamed back at him," Cook said a day after his arrest. "He thought that I called the police on his brother for some reason. Why would I do that?"
Cook said he has his license to carry a concealed weapon, but he denied pulling a gun on the man during their confrontation.
"It definitely will make me smarter about how I react to other people and what they say to me or what they try and do to me," Cook said Friday. "It just makes me more cautious about what I say or how I react to other people."
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