News on Jericho and Hurricane Incident

TMZ.com has a new article up with comments from Ashley Storer, the woman who was involved in the incident with Chris Jericho, Hurricane Helms and Matt Hardy earlier this week that led to Helms and Jericho being arrested for public intoxication.

Storer, who allegedly took an elbow to the face from Helms, says she has no ill feelings towards him and that it was a “play fight” she was involved in. She claims that they were all crammed into the back of the taxi and she got stuck between Helms and Jericho, who began play fighting. Storer says the “play fight” escalated because everyone was drunk.

Storer now says she took an elbow tot he cheek, causing the cab driver to pull over at a gas station where Helms and Jericho were arrested. Storer also claims that Matt Hardy was completely sober.

She also says that the cops blew the whole thing out of proportion but admits she may have made the situation worse because, “I was crying and drunk and tired from being out all night and I just wanted to leave."

TMZ cameras caught up with Randy Orton at an airport yesterday and asked him about the arrests of Chris Jericho and Hurricane Helms. Orton seemed legitimately surprised at the news and claimed he didn’t know anything about either of them being arrested. The TMZ reporter talked about how WWE stars are always getting in trouble and Orton said, “We represent the WWE in a very positive manner. Getting in trouble isn’t positive now, is it?”

Cincinnati.com had an article up yesterday evening about the arrests of Hurricane Helms and Chris Jericho. They noted that around 4AM on Wednesday, an Erlanger police officer patrolling Crescent Springs saw a group of five people being rowdy in a shopping center parking lot. The officer told the group they needed to leave and some of them got a taxi. This was shortly before the taxi driver pulled over and called 911 after the incident in the backseat.

While other reports have came out since then, Cincinnati.com noted that Helms ran and was later found by police but Matt Hardy couldn’t be found by them. It’s been mentioned now that Hardy was not sober and as you read before, the woman involved is now claiming that the whole thing was blown out of proportion.

Cincinnati.com noted that a conviction on the misdemeanor charge of public intoxication carries a fine of $25 and court costs of $134. Helms and Jericho can appear in court on February 16th to challenge the charges or they can have the charges dismissed by paying $159 total before court date.

WWE released a statement to the paper saying that they assume the authorities will take proper action if necessary but declined further comment.

- Jeff Hardy commented on the situation with these messages on his Twitter: “Sure tmz picked up their mug shot..big deal..their awesome &why should that be second guessed over an extremely simple situation?Love Je …” and “They got arrested…it’s a shame they care or think it makes them look bad..their amazing employees…..&”

Jeff’s girlfriend Beth, who is good friends with Helms and Matt, wrote this on her Twitter: “WOW! MMH made the TMZ headlines! He’s on the scoreboard now! So hilarious that the story is about nothing…TMZ is in the entertainment business also, keep that in mind. Funny thing is, Matt wasn’t even drinking & didn’t have any involvement. Classic TMZ sensationalism. Actually, I was asked to post that. And, to clarify, he wasn’t DRUNK. Better?”