QMI Agency, the parent company of the Ottawa Sun, has retracted a report published early Wednesday that said Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had been arrested the night before while driving a rented Porsche in Ottawa.
The agency released a statement Wednesday morning saying, “There was no basis for the story and QMI unreservedly retracts the story in its entirety. QMI regrets the error.”
Crosby wasn’t even in Canada Tuesday, according to his team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A spokesman for the Penguins told the Citizen: “The Pittsburgh Penguins have spoken to Sidney Crosby. He is not in Canada, and was not in Canada yesterday. He is continuing his training in preparation for training camp.”
Darren Dreger, a sportscaster with TSN, tweeted just after 7 a.m. that Crosby is training in Vail, Colorado this week.
Ottawa police also denied the report, which claimed the arrest was “driving related.” The report attributed its information to “sources,” who told the agency that Crosby was taken to police headquarters on Elgin Street for fingerprinting and a mugshot.
Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau tweeted just after 5 a.m., not long after the report was published, that “We have had no dealings with Mr. Crosby.”
We have had no dealings with Mr. Crosby. @ottawasuncom—
Charles Bordeleau (@ChiefBordeleau) September 03, 2014
A giant banner on the Ottawa Sun website that read: “Crosby Arrested in Ottawa” has since been taken down, and links to the report turn up a “Page Not Found” error.
The Ottawa Sun also deleted a tweet about the story.
