NFL cornerback Richard Sherman was arrested outside Seattle early Wednesday for felony burglary among several other charges, following an altercation in which his father-in-law, Raymond Moss, pepper-sprayed him in the face when Sherman tried to break into his home.
According to a police report obtained by the Associated Press, Sherman partially broke in the door by ramming it with his shoulder, at which point Moss told investigators that he pepper-sprayed him and “armed myself with my handgun at this time fearing for the safety of myself and my family.”
Earlier, in a 911 call late on Tuesday night obtained by ESPN, a woman identified herself as Sherman’s wife, Ashley Moss, and described her husband as being “drunk and belligerent” and “threatening to kill himself” after drinking two bottles of hard alcohol. In the audio, the caller tries to stop Sherman from leaving and told dispatch to tell the police “please don’t shoot,” and that he would fight any officers who arrived at the scene. He then appears to have driven from the couple’s home in Maple Valley outside Seattle to her parent’s house in Redmond, where he allegedly threatened his father-in-law.
After leaving his father-in-law’s residence, Sherman was eventually arrested following a 1:26 a.m. 911 call by a construction worker, who reported that a man had driven his SUV into a closed construction zone. The vehicle, registered to Sherman, became “disabled” after it hit a barrier when the driver tried to leave the scene. State troopers who responded found “significant” damage to the driver’s side of the SUV. Troopers tried to calmly speak with Sherman; one patrolman told him that, as a teenager, he once parked his car as a valet. The incident report states that he then tried to walk away quickly and fought police as they tried to detain him. According to the AP, a K-9 officer released his dog to take him down, at which point he “suffered minor cuts to his lower leg that were caused by the dog.” Sherman was booked into jail Wednesday on suspicion of resisting arrest, malicious mischief, and residential burglary. Because the burglary charge was at the home of a relative, it involves a domestic-violence component, for which Sherman was denied bail. The Washington State Patrol will also recommend charges of driving under the influence and hit-and-run.
A current free agent and five-time Pro Bowler who helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to their first Super Bowl in 2013, Sherman was barred from owning guns in February after a King County judge issued an “extreme risk protection order” at the behest of prosecutors and the sheriff. Details from the case are sealed, according to the AP.
Ashley Moss, Sherman’s wife, told the Seattle Times on Wednesday: “At this time, we’re going to make no statements, except he didn’t harm anybody. He’s a good person and this is not his character. We’re doing all right, just trying to get him out. I want people to know no one was injured.” The NFL Players Association — the league’s union, of which Sherman is a vice-president — issued a statement acknowledging that “one of our player leaders” was arrested for an alleged domestic-violence incident. The NFLPA added that it activated its “domestic violence crisis protocol for the protection and support of everyone involved.”
On Friday, Sherman issued a statement saying that he was “deeply remorseful for my actions on Tuesday night. ”
