Mercedes-Benz has backed down from its attempt to repossess the car of Colorado football safety Shilo Sanders.
The company’s financial services arm filed a document in court Monday saying it has withdrawn its motion for relief from the bankruptcy court where Sanders is trying to free himself of more than $11 million in debt.
It didn’t say why, but Shilo’s father and coach, Deion Sanders, said Friday that Shilo had fulfilled his financial obligations while acknowledging there was a “disruption in the payments process.” The company could have decided to drop it if he recently paid what he owed.
The issue came to a head last week when Mercedes-Benz Financial Services filed documents in court that accused Shilo of defaulting on his monthly payments for his $135,000 car. It said he was $6,877 past due and wanted the court’s permission to repossess the car that he agreed to buy in May 2023.
Bankruptcy case remains pending
Shilo Sanders, 25, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy about five months later, in October 2023, which triggered an automatic stay or hold on debt collection against him by his creditors. Mercedes-Benz asked the court for relief from this stay on April 1 so it could get the car back. Even after filing for bankruptcy, Sanders had continued to make payments on it in 2024 but stopped doing so from December to January, according to the company’s court filing.
“Debtor (Sanders) indicated an intent to retain the motor vehicle and reaffirm the obligation,” the company said in its motion filed April 1.
By withdrawing its request, the company ends a brief sideshow in a larger bankruptcy case that remains pending and in dispute.
Debt stems from disputed incident in 2015
Almost all of Shilo’s debt is owed to a security guard at his former school in Dallas, John Darjean, who is fighting to collect all that he is owed.
It stems from an incident in 2015, when Darjean said Shilo severely injured him when he tried to confiscate Shilo’s phone at school. Shilo has said it was in self-defense. But Darjean sued Shilo and both of his parents for damages. Then after both parents were dropped from the case by early 2019, Shilo was the sole remaining defendant when he went off to college at South Carolina that year.
About a year later, in 2020, Shilo dropped his attorneys in the case because he was “unwilling or unable to continue funding” his defense, according to his attorneys then.
Then when the case finally went to trial in 2022, he didn’t show up for it. The judge heard evidence in the case without him there and issued a $11.89 million default judgment against Shilo, all owed to Darjean.
By filing for bankruptcy, his goal is to have the debt discharged so he can get a “fresh start in life, free from the oppressive burden of his debts,” as his attorney wrote.
If Shilo succeeds, he will emerge with relatively little financial damage. But if the debt is not discharged by the court, Darjean could pursue debt collection against him in the future.
Shilo recently has been preparing for the NFL draft and on Friday ran the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds – a good time for a safety prospect. He was Colorado’s leading tackler in 2023 and third-leading tackler in 2024 despite missing three games with a broken forearm.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com