Prosecutors on Wednesday accused former Seattle Seahawks’ offensive attack Chad Wheeler of first-degree domestic violence and illegal incarceration of domestic violence after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend over the weekend. Both charges are considered felonies.
Wheeler was also charged with resisting arrest, a felony under Washington state law, according to a spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Washington State.
Wheeler was booked into the King County Jail and released on $ 400,000 bail on Tuesday, prison records show. A judge ordered Wheeler not to have contact with the victim and to hand in weapons, officials said.
The allegations come hours after the Seahawks’ one statement say that Wheeler is a free agent and is “no longer with the team.” According to the NFL’s official transaction list, the Seahawks removed Wheeler from the team on Wednesday.
The team encouraged him to seek help and share information for victims of domestic violence and those with mental health problems.
“The Seahawks are saddened by the details that are emerging against Chad Wheeler and strongly condemn this act of domestic violence,” the team said. “Our thoughts and support are with the victim.”
Danny Karnik / AP
Prosecutors said in a complaint that Wheeler allegedly assaulted and strangled the victim in her bedroom on Jan. 22. He allegedly knocked her unconscious twice and left her for dead both times.
According to a police report, agents responded to a domestic dispute in an apartment in the town of Kent after Wheeler’s girlfriend called the emergency number and told the operator that she was being “murdered.” When they arrived, she screamed from the inside, forcing officers to enter the house, the report said.
Wheeler initially opposed arrest before officers detained him, the report said. His girlfriend was hospitalized after officers found her with her face covered in blood and her left arm limp against her body, the report said.
The woman alleged that Wheeler strangled her and at one point used one of his hands and “squeezed” it against her nose and mouth to “stop her breathing,” the report said. She started to fight back, but lost consciousness, the report said. When she woke up, Wheeler reportedly asked her, “Wow are you alive?” – and she ran into the bathroom and started calling 911, the report said.
The report lists the woman as six feet tall and weighing 145 pounds and Wheeler at six feet tall and 310 pounds.
Officers arrived shortly after Wheeler chose the bathroom lock and apologized to the woman, the report said. The woman alleged that Wheeler suffers from bipolar disorder and was on medication, but had not taken it recently, the report said, adding that she told police that the couple had previously been dating for six months with no “ significant issues. ”
Prosecutors asked the court to put Wheeler on electronic home detection and that his ankle monitoring device would be equipped with GPS. His next court date is February 9.
Wheeler retired in 2017, but signed with the New York Giants and played in 19 of 27 games. He was released by the team ahead of the 2019 season and subsequently signed with the Seahawks exhibition squad. He saw no action on the field that year, but played in five games last season.
Notable figures in the NFL responded to news of Wheeler’s arrest and demanded that the league take action.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive tackle Zach Banner, who was Wheeler’s roommate in college, tweeted that Wheeler is “totally different” from the person he knew. “What he did was heartbreaking, and I will never forgive … My thoughts and prayers go out to the victim. She and her health should be the (top) priority.”