Moss, Traffic Officer Settle Lawsuit

The civil trial between Randy Moss and a female traffic control officer from Minneapolis scheduled for next month was averted Wednesday, as the two sides reached an out-of-court settlement.

For months there had been talk about the merits of a lawsuit being brought by Amy Zaccardi, a Minneapolis Police Department traffic control officer over an incident with Randy Moss in 2003. For those who don't remember, Moss tried to make an illegal turn with Zaccardi telling him to stop. When he kept going, she climbed onto the hood of his car and, when he finally did stop, she fell off the hood and on to the pavement.

Witnesses to the incident were divided in their assessment, some saying Moss was at fault and others saying Zaccardi escalated the incident on her own -- making the trial scheduled for May 17 a "he said, she said" affair.

That will no longer be an issue. Attorneys for Moss and Zaccardi announced an out-of-court settlement that will bring the civil portion of the case to an end. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but it now brings an end to the matter -- both in the criminal and civil liability phases.

THURSDAY NOTES
* How much does the public love the NFL? Nielsen ratings are in and, at one point or another, 31 million people watched at least part of last weekend's draft. To put that in perspective, the Saturday numbers for ESPN were half again as big as two nationally-broadcast NBA playoff games COMBINED!
* VU got a strange little tidbit from one of our sources with the Chargers. The Chargers used their first of two picks in the third round Saturday to take kicker Nate Kaeding of Iowa. As part of the explanatory rationale, one of the reasons cited was that Keaeding wouldn't be available on the fourth round, because THE VIKINGS would have taken him on the third round. Let's see -- a big-time defensive end like Darrion Scott on the third round or a draft choice on a kicker? Somewhere the wires got crossed.