Plaxico Burress is a world-champion football player, and a world-class moron.
The scary-dude wannabe hauled an illegal handgun into a nightclub Friday and in short order shot himself in the leg.
Way to go, Plaxico.
Burress is very good at catching footballs. He’s a big reason the Giants won the last Super Bowl – and why the team is in contention for another title this season.
Alas, now he needs to go to jail.
Friday night, Burress walked into the Latin Quarter on Lexington Avenue – allegedly accompanied by teammate Antonio Pierce, and allegedly packing a .40-caliber Glock, which the club managers allegedly knew about.
At some point the gun went off, the bullet striking Burress in the right leg; the now-perforated Plaxico then hied himself off to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.
There, his wound was dressed, and he was released.
Somewhere along the way, the Glock ended up in the glove compartment of Pierce’s Cadillac SUV.
And, from beginning to end, nobody called the cops.
Not Burress.
Not his teammates.
Not the club managers.
Not anybody at the hospital – which is legally required to report gunshot wounds.
Nobody.
Which is unacceptable.
In Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday, Burress was arraigned on gun-possession charges – and if Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau lets him off with a celebrity wrist-slap, it will truly be time to take a look at the state of law enforcement in New York County.
The rest of the suspects – Pierce, who reportedly hid the gun; the club workers who cleaned up after the incident; the hospital employees who failed to report the bullet wound – need a trip before a grand jury, too.
“I think it would be an outrage if we didn’t prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” said Mayor Bloomberg yesterday – adding: “It’s just an outrage that the hospital didn’t do what they were legally required to do. It’s a chargeable offense, and I think the district attorney should certainly go after the management of this hospital.”
Your move, Mr. District Attorney.