Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Paterno says he took part in traffic incident
Thursday, October 11, 2007
By Ron Musselman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's continuing pattern of off-the-field incidents took an unusual turn yesterday, reaching to the top of the program.
Penn State coach Joe Paterno confirmed for the first time that he had a verbal run-in with a female driver Friday after a near accident on campus.
Message boards have been full of rumored accounts of the incident, but Paterno made no secret of it.
He told more than 300 people at the Penn State Quarterback Club luncheon about his near miss. Information exchanged at the weekly luncheon is normally treated as off the record and not open to the media. But multiple sources who attended told the Post-Gazette about Paterno's exchange with the audience.
According to the sources, Paterno said after his close call he pulled his car over to the curb and got out.
He then approached the other vehicle and shook his finger at the driver. He warned her to, "Watch it."
"Be careful," Paterno said. "I have your license number, and I will call the police on you."
According to the sources, Paterno said a male passenger then walked up and chastised him, saying, "That's my wife you're talking to."
Paterno said, "That's your problem."
The woman then snapped back at Paterno, telling him, "I'm going to call the police on you."
Paterno reportedly told the woman to go ahead.
She did just that.
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