Former San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has been arrested on a domestic violence charge.
The 33-year-old was booked on charges of burglary domestic violence, resisting arrest and malicious mischief at 6:08 am local time on Wednesday at King County Correctional Facility in Seattle and subsequently denied bail, according to public records.
Redmond Police released a statement explaining that officers were called at approximately 1:49am on the morning of Wednesday July 14 after Sherman had attempted to force his way into a family member's home. The statement adds that Sherman resisted the officers' efforts to take him into custody, leading to a Redmond K9 unit being called upon.
The Washington State Patrol were also present to investigate a hit and run incident after a vehicle was abandoned following a collision with a cement barrier to an off-ramp.
At a later press conference, Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe said: "Mr. Sherman physically resisted officer's efforts to take him into custody and Redmond police canine was deployed to assist in gaining control of Mr. Sherman. Mr. Sherman was eventually taken into custody. Both Mr. Sherman and the officer sustained minor injuries as a result of the altercation and the canine deployment. Mr. Sherman was treated at a local hospital for his injuries and booked into the King County jail."
Lowe noted that the domestic violence component is a result of Sherman's relation to the occupants of the residence, not due to him physically assaulting his significant other.
Sherman did not gain entry to the property nor is he under suspicion of assault. He allegedly caused damage to the door of the residence, leading to him also being booked for malicious mischief.
State patrol captain Ron Mead stated that a 911 call was received at 1:26am Wednesday morning reporting that a potentially impaired driver had entered a closed construction zone along a freeway east of Seattle. Mead added that the vehicle had been heavily damaged on the driver's side after hitting a barrier when the troopers found it abandoned.
Speaking to the Seattle Times, Sherman's wife Ashley Moss said: "At this time, we're going to make no statements, except he didn't harm anybody. My kids were not harmed in the incident. He's a good person and this is not his character. We're doing all right, just trying to get him out. I want people to know no one was injured."
Sherman is one of the vice presidents on the NFL Players Association executive committee.
In an official statement, the NFLPA said: "We were made aware of an arrest last night of one of our player leaders for an alleged domestic violence incident and have activated our domestic violence crisis protocol for the protection and support of everyone involved. We will continue to monitor events closely as more facts are made available to us."
The cornerback has recorded 484 tackles, 36 interceptions and 115 passes defended in 139 career games in the NFL since being drafted by the Seahawks out of Stanford in 2011.
During his seven seasons in Seattle he won one Super Bowl, reached another, posted 32 interceptions and was first-team All-Pro on three occasions.
In 2018 he signed with the 49ers, where he played for three seasons and made it to Super Bowl LIV before being released in February this year having missed 11 games during the 2020 campaign. Sherman is a five-time Pro Bowl selection.
The incident is being investigated as a felony, which in US law typically means a guilty verdict carries the possibility of a prison term.