Josh Shaw says he jumped from balcony after argument with girlfriend

Suspended USC safety Josh Shaw said he did jump from a balcony in August, but it was after he had an argument with his girlfriend.

Shaw was originally the hero in a feel-good story when USC published a story on its website with Shaw saying he saved his 7-year-old nephew from drowning at a party at his sister's house. In the jump from the balcony to save his nephew, Shaw had injured both his ankles.

The story was eventually found to be fake, which Shaw admitted.

But until Thursday, in a must-read column published by Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, Shaw hadn't given a detailed reason for the high-ankle sprains, only saying he injured himself in a fall via a statement. Or what he says is the real reason.

He and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument, one that Shaw said was loud but not "overly loud." His girlfriend, Angela Chilton, walked out of the apartment. Shaw heard something and looked outside to see police cars. He panicked, though both parties say the argument wasn't physical.

“We were not on good terms when she left, I thought she had somebody call authorities. I was thinking the worst,” he said. “If she did say anything, I'm a black man with dreadlocks, and with everything going on in the country at the time, all that stuff in St. Louis [Ferguson, Mo.] … in my mind, I'm going to leap from the balcony so authorities did not see me.”

He was wearing sandals when he jumped.

His brother picked him up and Shaw said he didn't go to the hospital. He didn't tell USC until Sunday, the day after, because he needed a story.

“I wanted to come up with something that they would say, ‘Josh, if you got hurt, that's a good reason to get hurt,'” he said. “That's where fabrication came in.”

Shaw said he came up with a story he had injured himself attempting to save his 7-year old nephew from drowning in an apartment pool at a family function in Palmdale. He thought it was an airtight story.

“I didn't think it could be proved that story was not true,” he said. “My sister [Asia] was having a party … my cousin does have a balcony over his pool…. It involved only myself, my sister, two or three little kids, and my cousin.”

Shaw said he didn't want to talk about the story publicly, but USC wanted to get in front of it because it knew Shaw would be spotted while hurt. So he spoke and stuck to what he had created. As the story grew, Shaw said he kept sticking to it out of fear. He even told coach Steve Sarkisian the story was true before admitting to a USC official on Wednesday the story was fake.

“Sark says, ‘I'm going to take your word for it,'” said Shaw, pursing his lips and looking down. “I regret it greatly… to lie to my head coach, who I greatly respect, that's tough.”

After Shaw's story was debunked – and the LAPD said he was being investigated for a domestic violence incident (no charges are expected to be filed, according to the Times, though Shaw hasn't been cleared) – he was suspended. He's still suspended, even though he's healthy enough to play. He may not play at all this season, though he hopes to get invited to the Senior Bowl.

For more USC news, visit TrojanSports.com

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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