Aldon Smith Denies Wrongdoing ... 'I'm Not a Badass Criminal, I'm a Good Person'

Aldon Smith insists he did nothing wrong -- was not detained -- and was only inside a San Francisco jail to visit a friend who was locked up inside.

As Smith left an S.F. jail following a car crash in which he was allegedly a passenger, he told a pack of reporters that he was doing great .... "nothing happened."

"I had to go handle something and talk to somebody" Smith said ... "I was talking to a friend who is locked up in there. That’s what I went to go do. If I did something I’d be in jail right now. Like I didn’t do anything."

He added, "So we need to, if you guys want to talk about me, let’s make these stories a little bit better. Let’s put me in a better spotlight and stop making me seem like I’m some badass criminal."

"Because that’s not who I am. I’m a good person. I’ve never done anything, I’ve never hurt anybody. I’m not that type of person. Let’s start replacing these stories. That’s your story alright? Get out of my face now please."

As we previously reported, Smith was detained for public intoxication early Thursday morning after a car he was a passenger in smashed into a cop car.