It sure sounds like it.

According to a new article by the Associated Press, the officer that shot San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley was off-duty, in civilian clothes, followed Foley all the way home from off the interstate, and Foley was unarmed.

Here's more:

"To my knowledge, I don't believe Foley did have a weapon, even though I was told he reached into his waistband with his right hand," said San Diego County sheriff's Lt. Dennis Brugos.

According to the Sheriff"s Department's initial report Sunday, Foley was shot after he reached into his pants with his right hand while approaching the policeman, who was in civilian clothes and driving his own car.

[Officer Aaron] Mansker has been placed on paid administrative leave, said Leah Corbin, a police spokeswoman in Coronado, a wealthy peninsular enclave across the bay from downtown San Diego. She declined to release any other details about the officer.

According to official reports, Mansker noticed a car swerving on the freeway while driving at speeds of 90mph and almost collided with several cars.  He decided to follow the car, thought to be Foley, which had stopped at three lights on the way to the residence.  Mansker had ordered Foley to pull over before the shooting incident, but Foley ignored it.

It's not even known if Mansker even showed Foley his badge, and considering that he was behind some bushes when he confronted Foley and his girlfriend (who promptly tried to run him over), he more than likely didn't.

But even if he did, it's irrelevant.  We're talking about an officer that was off-duty and out of uniform trying to pull someone over on a traffic violation.  When the person didn't comply, the officer then followed him to his residence, which resulted in an altercation and the driver being shot.  And note:  all of this is happening in the middle of the night in a large city.  If I see a person that is off-duty, and in civilian clothes trying to get me to pull over, I would think I'm about to be carjacked.

Why didn't Mansker call headquarters for backup and allowed them to make the proper arrest?  An off-duty cop is precisely that:  off-duty.  Particularly since troopers are often required to be in proper uniform and go through proper protocol when pulling over vehicles, you'd think cops would be careful about getting in altercations off-duty and out of uniform.

If the AP's article is accurate, and we aren't missing anything significant, I'd say that Foley has a good chance of winning a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City of San Diego and against Aaron Mansker.  Mansker's handling of this incident was over the top, and he should have called for backup instead of trying to handle it himself.  This resulted in an incident that 1. possibly could have been avoided  2.  resulted in Foley getting shot, and almost got Mansker ran over  3.  will cost Foley the entire NFL season, and will make every team think twice before they pick him up....if a team will ever take him again.  The loss of the season, along with the time taken for rehab, and the public airing of this incident could end Foley's career.

I normally give the cops the benefit of the doubt, but not in this case.