University of Oregon football player Daylen Austin was arrested for connection to a fatal hit and run.

Question

The claim that University of Oregon football player Daylen Austin was arrested for being involved in a fatal hit and run on April 15th is a true claim. ESPN reported on April 17th that Austin had been arrested by Eugene Police Department for a class C felony, and was being held in Lane County Jail. Sports Illustrated reported that Frank William Seaman was the man that had been killed during the hit and run. Adding details that Seaman had been seen harassing Austin previous to the hit and run, throwing baseball sized objects at Austin's vehicle. When circling back around to see what had hit his vehicle Austin encountered Seaman. Austin then claims that Seaman had been menacing him with a hammer threatening his safety, later found with Seaman's fingerprints. Austin is now on trial in Lane county before a Grand Jury, the trial has been continuously delayed as the investigation has been very unclear as to all of the details that occurred on the night of April 15th (Oregonian). According to the Register-Guard Austin was initially charged with failure to perform duties of a driver to seriously injured person. 

Answer 1

This claim about this incident is very much accurate and a true representation on what had happened. Daylen Austin, an oregon football player was charged for a hit a run on April 15th in Eugene Oregon. He had hit a 46 year old homeless man (Frank William Seaman) who had been harassing him and was throwing things at his white SUV car. He had also be harassed with a hammer that Seaman had. Austin was accused of failing to do what's right when you are in that possession when another person is injured. I made sure all the cites that were used are correct and are very credible sources. I also did my own research to see if I could find more resources for this claim and it all matched up to what the original claim is saying. Also how the charges were being explained gave a clear picture to what had happened and how it was a "complex investigation". I added some new resources that could be helpful and add more support for this claim. I do really like how much information you gave in the claim that made it easy to understand and wasn't confusing or misinterpreting the story.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2024/04/18/oregon-football-player-daylen-austin-arrest/73368736007/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iuMw3C6XqE

https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/crime/2025/08/06/university-of-oregon-ducks-football-player-daylen-austin-trial-scheduled/85534122007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z111703p001150c001150e004300v111703&gca-ft=36&gca-ds=sophi

Comments

This is an amazing fact check, the fact that you used many different sources to support your justification is amazing. Keep going!

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You did well with fact-checking this. I especially like how you went ahead and found more sources that could help supply the original claim maker with even more information, making the fact-check even clearer than before.

Answer 2

This claim is accurate and a good representation of what had occurred on April 15th of 2024. Daylen Austin who was a redshirt freshman defensive back for the University of Oregon at the time was involved in a hit and run in Eugene Oregon which ended up killing Frank William Seaman. Seaman was seen throwing objects at Austin’s car prior to the hit and run. It was reported by Austin that when he turned around to see what hit his car he found Seaman who threatened him with a hammer. Instead of stopping after striking Seaman with his car he continued to drive away. Austin is now on trial at lame county where his case has been delayed multiple times. His original charge was a class C felony but we have yet to see if charges will be added or changed. 

Comments

I agree with your stance, as there is significant evidence to demonstrate that this claim is true. I like how you included all the evidence of the case

Answer 3

According to Oregonlive.com and registerguard.com, university of Oregon football player Dylan Austin was involved in a fatal car accident killing a 46-year old man by the name of Frank William Seaman. This claim is true regarding the incident that happened on April 25, 2024. It was reported that Mr. Seaman had thrown a " large object" that appeared to be the size of a baseball at Dylan's SUV. Dylan responded by driving back around to see what had hit him and to find the guy that was responsible for. In doing so Dylan says the homeless man had " jumped in front of his car". Its stated that once this had occurred, Dylan drove off, called his mother and his coach. The trial is still undergo has Dylans legal team still need time to discuss the factors that went into the situation that day of the accident. I personally don't agree with how Dylan handled the situation with the homeless man and the actions he took after the accident. 

Answer 4

This claim is accurate and true. An article from Lookout Eugene-Springfield on October 17th, 2025, states that the Oregon Supreme Court denied dismissal of the case. Daylen Austin was charged with failing to perform the duties of a driver to an injured person, after being connected to the death of a pedestrian struck by the vehicle he was driving. Austin sought out the Oregon Supreme Court to reverse the previous denial of a motion seeking to dismiss the case, but was denied upon consideration.

https://lookouteugene-springfield.com/story/justice/2025/10/17/oregon-supreme-court-denies-dismissal-of-uo-football-players-fatal-hit-and-run-case/

Answer 5

The claim that the University of Oregon's football player, Daylen Austin, was arrested in connection with a fatal hit-and-run is true, as sources like ESPN https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39962615/oregon-db-daylen-austin-arrested-fatal-hit-run indicate that there is evidence of his arrest, obtained from the Eugene police station. There is a death report that a 46-year-old man was killed in a crash at 9:10 pm on Monday in 2024. From the source, the register guard, https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/crime/2025/08/06/university-of-oregon-ducks-football-player-daylen-austin-trial-scheduled/85534122007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=false&gca-epti=z111703p001150c001150e004300v111703&gca-ft=39&gca-ds=sophi, demonstrates that there was a 12-person jury up for this case of the hit and run and was halted by Supreme Court Chief Justice Justin Meagan. Lastly, Oregon Live https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2025/01/oregon-football-defensive-back-daylen-austin-indicted-for-fatal-hit-and-run.html#:~:text=Oregon%20defensive%20back%20Daylen%20Austin,46%2Dyear%2Dold%20man. speaks of classifying it as a Class B felony and demonstrates the whole process of the court case, including dates and classifications.

Answer 6

The claim “Oregon Football Player Daylen Austin was arrested for connection to a fatal hit and run” is true based off the article The Oregonian He was arrested on April 15th after being accused of the felony of failing to perform the duties of a driver when another person is injured shortly after he killed a pedestrian and then leaving the scene making it a hit and run. After being arrested on April 15th and arraigned on April 17th his trial was scheduled for August 14th but has now been postponed. Despite the trial being delayed according to Lookout Eugene-Springfield A judge on Tuesday, Aug. 5, denied a motion to dismiss a felony charge filed.

Answer 7

This claim is true. According to ESPN, University of Oregon defensive back Daylen Austin was arrested late April was connected with a fatal hit and run. The incident occurred late Monday evening when a 46-year old man was struck by a vehicle around 9:10 pm approximately 2 miles from university's campus. The crash led to the death of the man, police indicated they were still gathering information for referral to the lane country attorney office for final charging. In Oregon a hit and run involving a vehicle is classified as a class c felony which is up to five years in prison. Austin was listed in the Lane County jail. The incident is serious not only legal terms but also for the players athletic career and the universities program, as it may lead to legal, disciplinary and reputational consequences for Austin and Oregon. 

 https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39962615/oregon-db-daylen-austin-arrested-fatal-hit-run 

Answer 8

This claim regarding Daylen Austin is in fact, true. There are multiple articles covering this case, one of them being from ABC News. The article explains that the accident occurred on 4th Avenue and Polka Street in Eugene, Oregon. Later on in the article, there is a quote from one of the Eugene police officers stating, “Daylen Amir Austin, age 19, was arrested at 11:45 p.m. on April 15 and has initially been charged with felony Hit and Run,”. Another article from ESPN also confirms this story. It explains how, due to the accident, the victim, a 46-year-old man, was killed. Austin spent nights in the Lane County Jail. 
 

Sources:

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39962615/oregon-db-daylen-austin-arrested-fatal-hit-run

https://abcnews.go.com/US/university-oregon-defensive-back-daylen-austin-arrested-hit/story?id=109374378

Answer 9

After reviewing reports from The Oregonian, The Register Guard, and ESPN, I’ve found that this claim is true. Daylen Austin was arrested on April 15th, 2024 in connection to a fatal hit-and-run. A 46-year-old homeless man identified as Frank William Seaman was killed roughly 2 miles away from campus. Surveillance footage from that night showed a man fitting his description throwing a baseball-sized object at a white SUV matching Austin’s vehicle just 15 minutes before the fatal encounter. The Oregonian stated that a hammer was found on the street near Seaman, as well as a blue grocery bag with other hand tools. Austin told police he was “being menaced with a hammer” by Seaman, who he claimed jumped in front of his SUV. Austin was charged with one count of failing to perform the duties of a driver to an injured person. His trial for Austin was originally scheduled for February 19th, 2025, but got postponed to August 14th after additional materials were released, including an autopsy report and toxicology results. After the release of these documents, Austin’s attorney requested the postponement, saying that the defense counsel has “not had a reasonable amount of time to analyze the state’s discovery, seek material outside of the state’s possession, confer with defense experts, and then produce discovery to the state.” Austin asked the Oregon Supreme court to reverse a previous denial of a motion he made in Lane County Circuit Court seeking dismissal of the charge, which was denied. No new trial date has been set, and he is back to playing for the University of Oregon’s football team as a defensive back.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/39962615/oregon-db-daylen-austin-arrested-fatal-hit-run

https://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/2025/01/oregon-football-defensive-back-daylen-austin-indicted-for-fatal-hit-and-run.html

https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/courts/2025/02/08/trial-for-oregon-ducks-player-daylen-austin-postponed/78341103007/

https://lookouteugene-springfield.com/story/justice/2025/10/17/oregon-supreme-court-denies-dismissal-of-uo-football-players-fatal-hit-and-run-case/