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**RoyWilliams** · 05-21-2007, 01:24 PM

New York Jet hit woman and fled, cops say

Quote:

The NFL's fastest man could not outrun the NYPD.

The New York Jets' fleet-footed cornerback and kick returner Justin Miller was arrested early yesterday after he tried to dash away from a fight outside a Manhattan nightspot, police said.

Miller was named the league's fastest man at February's Pro Bowl in Hawaii, where he was Gang Green's only representative on the All-Star squad.

But his quick feet were no match for cops in a patrol car.

Miller, 23, was grabbed just a block from Chelsea's trendy Maritime Hotel, where a woman says she was punched by the pro ballplayer.

He was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on third-degree assault charges.

"I want to apologize to everyone for this situation, including my family, my teammates, the Jets organization, our fans and the entire NFL," Miller said in a statement released after his court appearance.

"I understand that serving in the NFL is an honor and that I have an obligation to behave in a manner that reflects that privilege I have been given."

The fracas erupted about 4:40a.m. after Miller and two friends left a Chelsea nightclub and got into a shoving match with a group of men outside the Maritime at W. 16th St. and Ninth Ave., police said.

Two witnesses told investigators that during the pushing and shoving, the 5-foot-10, 196-pound Miller punched a 26-year-old woman in the face.

Miller's attorney disputed the claim, saying the woman hurled herself at the football player.

"He categorically denies the charges," said lawyer Aaron Wallenstein. "He was simply defending himself."

"He was attacked by a female outside the establishment," Wallenstein said.

The arrest, which comes in the midst of an NFL crackdown on bad-boy behavior, was not Miller's first brush with the law.

A week before the Jets used a second-round pick to draft him out of Clemson University in 2005, Miller was charged with disorderly conduct for cursing loudly and failing to obey police officers during a house party.

In 2002, he had pleaded guilty to a drunken-driving charge. The Jets said in a statement that the club is investigating the incident.

Miller, who lost his starting cornerback job last season, flourished as a return man, running back two kickoffs for touchdowns.