Holly MatkinArapahoe County, CO – National Football League (NFL) wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was arrested Thursday after he got into a non-physical altercation with the mother of his one-month-old child, according to police.
Jeudy, who plays for the Denver Broncos, was arrested by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) on a charge of second-degree criminal tampering with a domestic violence enhancer at approximately 12 p.m. on May 12, KDVR reported.
Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown said Jeudy’s girlfriend, Antoinette Tharp, called the sheriff’s office at about 10:30 a.m. to ask for “keep-the-peace” assistance between her and 23-year-old Jeudy, according to FOX News.
Tharp, the mother of the wide receiver’s one-month-old child, described the couple’s relationship as “ongoing” and said Jeudy was preventing her from leaving the house by taking her wallet, paperwork involving their infant, baby formula, and a child car seat and locking the items inside a vehicle she couldn’t get into, according to investigators.
Tharp told investigators she wanted to go back to Virginia, but that she couldn’t leave Colorado without the items Jeudy allegedly locked up, USA Today reported.
She further noted that she didn’t want to get her boyfriend into “trouble,” but that she needed her property back, according to investigators.
Sheriff Brown said there was no physical contact between Jeudy and Tharp during the incident, FOX News reported.
Tampering with someone’s property in an effort “to cause injury, inconvenience, or annoyance to that person” is a violation of Colorado state law, according to FOX News.
“The second portion of this is a domestic violence enhancer and I know the word ‘violence’ connotates physical contact,” Sheriff Brown said, according to USA Today. “I can tell you specifically that there was no physical contact between Mr. Jeudy and the female party in this investigation. It solely involved property.”
“There was no damage to property,” he added. “All that happened is that there was an accusation that property was being withheld and deputies determined that there was enough probable cause to make an arrest.”
The sheriff said Jeudy was cooperative with investigators and that he was arrested without incident.
He was booked into jail on the misdemeanor charge and was being held without bond pending his court appearance scheduled for Friday morning, KDVR reported.
Denver Broncos Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett said the incident was “unfortunate” and that the organization is still working to “gather as much information as we possibly can,” according to USA Today.
“We take these situations very seriously,” Hackett said. “We want to be sure we get all the information, we want to talk with Jerry, we want to be there for him and make sure we do all the right things.”
