Former NFL player Zac Stacy was arrested in Florida on Thursday after video posted online appeared to show him attacking his ex-girlfriend in front of their infant son.
Stacy, 30, was charged with aggravated battery and criminal mischief, according to Orange County Jail records. The incident happened Saturday, according to an arrest warrant issued earlier Thursday by Oakland, Florida, police.
Stacy's ex-girlfriend, Kristin Evans, posted footage captured by two surveillance cameras inside her home to Facebook on Wednesday, asking people to "please share" because at that stage Stacy was "yet to be apprehended."
It appears to show the former New York Jets running back punching her in the head and throwing her into a TV while their infant son lay on the couch nearby.
The Oakland Police Department alleged in a statement Friday that Stacy "fled the scene" and then "fled the state." After reviewing the footage, investigators obtained an arrest warrant based on those allegations of aggravated battery and criminal mischief, the department said.
The arrest warrant describes Stacy picking up Evans like "a rag doll." She suffered injuries to her face, torso and legs, the warrant says.
NBC News has reached out to Stacy and his team for comment.
He was taken into custody by local police at Orlando International Airport after a flight from Nashville, Tennessee. He flew to Florida "with the intention of turning himself in," Oakland police said.
During Stacy's first court appearance on the matter Friday, his defense attorney reiterated that he traveled to the state immediately after learning there was a warrant for his arrest, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Prosecutors said in court that Stacy had left the state "immediately" after the alleged assault, and asked the judge to order him to surrender his passport if he's granted release, according to the report.
The judge agreed and set Stacy's bond at just over $10,000, the Sentinel reported. He's not allowed to have any contact with his ex-girlfriend and cannot possess any firearms or weapons.
Stacy said he intends to return to Tennessee, according to the newspaper.
In an interview with Telemundo, NBCUniversal’s Spanish language network, Evans described Stacy “body-slamming” her into their baby’s bouncy chair.
"I just wanted to make sure that I stayed conscious. He was in a rage," Evans told Telemundo. "I just was scared, so I tried to calm him as much as I could, to deescalate the situation, and stay conscious. That's all that was going through my head at the time."
The videos were widely shared on social media and condemned by NFL players and fans.
“Any man that puts his hands on a woman is a coward. Can’t believe what I just saw," Packers receiver Davante Adams tweeted.
"Woke up to the Zac Stacy video. Made my stomach turn," Chris Long, who was Stacy's teammate with the St. Louis Rams, said.
The TransPerfect Music City Bowl, a post-season college football game, dropped Stacy as its youth ambassador Thursday, saying in a statement it was terminating its relationship with him immediately.
Evans told Telemundo that this was not the first time Stacy had been violent, including an alleged incident in August when she "made a report for domestic violence" and ended the relationship. She said "there was another time I filed for domestic battery: He slapped me in the face while I was holding our son," but did not say when.
The Oakland Police Department arrest warrant mentions two previous alleged incidents: One on Aug. 16 that it describes as a "verbal dispute," and another Sept. 26 when charges were filed for "possible domestic violence" but that police "were unable to locate Mr. Stacy."
The department's statement Friday described the September allegations:
"The suspect struck the victim on the left side of her face with a handful of mail and had left the scene before officers arrived," it said. "The victim declined to press charges or prosecute the defendant. The Oakland Police Department filed a charge of domestic violence battery to the State Attorney’s Office anyway."
On Saturday, Stacy sent a text message to Evans asking to visit their son, something she allowed as an "olive branch" as the couple were in mediation, she told police according to the arrest warrant.
Evans told Telemundo that Stacy became angry after they discussed "what he thought was an incident" a year ago when she met one of his friends who at the time was acting as Stacy's financial adviser.
