Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer allegedly head-butted his wife in the face after she refused a sexual advance on July 21, according to investigators. Details of the incident revealed by the Associated Press also allege that Dwyer assaulted her again the next day, punching her in the head, throwing a shoe at their 1-year-old son and throwing away her phone as she tried to call 911.
Jonathan Dwyer allegedly head-butted wife after she refused sexual advance
Disturbing new details of the incident involving the Arizona Cardinals running back emerged Thursday, the day after his arrest for aggravated assault on his wife.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Authorities arrested Dwyer on Wednesday afternoon. He is charged with aggravated assault causing a fracture and involving a minor, preventing the use of a phone in an emergency and criminal damage for the two incidents that occurred days before he reported to training camp.
According to the report filed this week by his wife, who left the state after the incidents occurred, Dwyer tried to kiss her and remove her clothing in the first incident. When she refused, he head-butted her in the face. A neighbor called the police, but Dwyer hid in the bathroom while his wife told authorities that he wasn’t home. The report says that he had threatened to kill himself in front of his wife and child if she said anything to police.
The next day, he punched her, breaking a bone in her face, as well as punching holes in the wall and throwing a shoe at the child. She tried to call police, and that’s when he threw her phone from the second story of their home, according to the report.
Dwyer admitted to hiding in the bathroom when the police came to his house in July. He denied assaulting his wife. He was released on Thursday.
Dwyer’s wife reported the incidents to police this week after receiving a series of text messages from him threatening suicide, including one with a photo of a knife. He also admitted that to police, according to the report.
He is the second Cardinals player with an outstanding domestic violence charge. Linebacker Daryl Washington is serving a one-year probation for assaulting his girlfriend. The NFL has not yet dealt with Washington’s domestic violence case.
News of Dwyer's arrest and details of the incident come with the league already under fire for its handling of Ray Rice's discipline for assaulting his then-fiancee in February. The NFL has denied that the league had knowledge of Rice knocking his fiancee unconscious during a dispute in an Atlantic City hotel and casino. Video of the incident was revealed last Monday by TMZ. Rice was suspended indefinitely hours after the tape emerged. On Friday, news broke that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had been charged with child abuse after beating his son with a stick, claiming he was disciplining the child.
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