General

San Diego Chargers’ Shawne Merriman Arrested For Allegedly Choking Tila Tequila

Sep 6, 2009, 5:40 PM UTC

â†µNBC San Diego is reporting that Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman was arrested early Sunday morning for allegedly choking reality star Tila "Tequila" Nguyen.â†µ

â†µâ†µFrom the report:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥They got the call at 3:45 a.m. on Sunday from a woman who claimed to have been choked and restrained by a male at a home on Sagecrest Drive in Poway.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“Nguyen told deputies she had been choked and physically restrained by Merriman when she attempted to leave his residence,” Public Information Officer Jan Caldwell said.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µâ†µMerriman faces charges of battery and false imprisonment.
â†µ

â†µâ†µThe difference in sizes between Merriman and Nguyen is enormous. â†µ

â†µ

â†µMerriman is listed at 6'4", 265 pounds in his NFL bio; Nguyen's IMBD bio lists her at 4'11". Merriman was suspended from the NFL in 2006 for steroid use.â†µ

â†µâ†µWatching his Twitter account and her protected Twitter account (briefly unlocked this afternoon) and MySpace page makes sense: Both are social media-savvy.â†µ

â†µâ†µFor example, yesterday, Nguyen re-tweeted a Merriman message; on Friday, Merriman tweeted, in response to LeGarrette Blount’s punch, “I want to punch a bunch of guys but i would never risk getting suspended and fined i love my $.” Back in June, Chris Littmann noted that Merriman took to Twitter and 12seconds to threaten to “wring” Chad Ochocinco’s neck.â†µ

â†µAs of 2:40 PM ET on Sunday, Shawne Merriman is the top Trending Topic on Twitter. â†µâ†µIt will be interesting to see how swiftly and heavily NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s iron fist comes down on Merriman. But it may be more interesting to see how Nguyen’s sizable and fanatic online following reacts.â†µ

â†µâ†µUpdates as they come. â†µ

â†µâ†µUPDATE, 6:11 p.m.: Pro Football Talk reports that Merriman may defend himself by saying he was trying to prevent Nguyen from driving drunk. â†µ

â†µâ†µLawyers from Merriman and Nguyen have also both responded, NBC San Diego further reports. â†µ

â†µâ†µ“He’s done absolutely nothing wrong; this is merely an incident that wasâ†µunfortunate that should never had occurred and was a result, directly,â†µof Ms. Tequila’s conduct and the way she conducted herself in Mr.â†µMerriman’s home,” Merriman’s lawyer, Todd Macaluso, said. “We are very confident this matterâ†µwill be resolved without any charges being filed whatsoever.”â†µ

â†µâ†µScott E. Leemon, an attorney for Tequila, said in a statement thatâ†µneither she nor her representatives would comment publicly on theâ†µincident.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Chargers organization has also weighed in. “It’s disappointing to hear about the issue involving Shawne Merriman,” Chargers GM A.J. Smith said in a statement. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let the legal process runâ†µits course.”â†µ

â†µâ†µUPDATE, 3:08 a.m.: Merriman released a statement to FoxSports.com in which he said, as expected, he tried to prevent Nguyen from driving home drunk. He also said that no charges had been filed against him.â†µ

â†µMerriman’s statement reads, in part:â†µâ†µ“I was concerned about her welfare givenâ†µthe intoxicated state she appeared to be in and I encouraged her toâ†µstay until safe transportation could be provided.â†µ

â†µâ†µ“I in no way caused any harm toâ†µMs. Nguyen.”â†µ

â†µ“There have been no charges filed againstâ†µme.”
â†µ
â†µ“I look forward to clearing my name regarding theseâ†µfalse allegations.”
â†µ
â†µUPDATE, 3:34 a.m.: Late Sunday night, Nguyen tweeted the following:
â†µ
â†µ