On Wednesday, prosecutors accused Chad Wheeler of a Seattle Seahawks offensive attack with first-degree domestic violence and illegal domestic violence arrest after allegedly attacking his girlfriend over the weekend. Both charges are considered crimes.
Wheeler was also accused of resisting arrest, a contravention under Washington state law, according to a spokesman for the King County Public Prosecutor’s Office in Washington State.
Wheeler was charged at King County Jail and released on $ 400,000 bail on Tuesday, prison records show. A judge ordered Wheeler not to contact the victim and to hand over all the weapons, according to authorities.
The charges come hours after the Seahawks issued a declaration saying that Wheeler is a free agent and “is no longer with the team”. According to the official NFL deal list, the Seahawks cut off the team’s Wheeler on Wednesday.
The team encouraged him to seek help and share information for victims of domestic violence and people suffering from mental health problems.
“The Seahawks are saddened by the emerging details against Chad Wheeler and strongly condemn this act of domestic violence,” said the team. “Our thoughts and support are with the victim.”
Danny Karnik / AP
Prosecutors said in a lawsuit that Wheeler allegedly attacked and strangled the victim in his room on January 22. He allegedly beat her until he was unconscious twice and left her twice to die.
A police report said police officers responded to a domestic dispute in an apartment in Kent after Wheeler’s girlfriend called 911 and told the operator she was being “killed”. When they arrived, she was screaming from the inside, which prompted the police to force their way into the house, the report said.
Wheeler initially resisted arrest before the police stopped him, the report said. His girlfriend was hospitalized after police found her with her face covered in blood and her left arm limp against her body, the report said.
The woman claimed that Wheeler strangled her and at one point, used one of her hands and “crushed” it against her nose and mouth to “prevent her from breathing,” the report said. She started fighting, but lost consciousness, the report said. When she woke up, Wheeler reportedly asked her, “Wow, are you alive?” – and she ran to the bathroom and started calling 911, the report said.
The report lists the woman 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighing 145 pounds and Wheeler 6 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 310 pounds.
The police arrived shortly after Wheeler opened the bathroom lock and apologized to the woman, the report said. The woman claimed that Wheeler suffers from bipolar disorder and was taking medication, but has not taken it recently, the report said, adding that she told the police that the couple had been dating for six months without any “notable problems”.
Prosecutors asked the court to place Wheeler under electronic home detection and have his ankle monitoring device equipped with GPS. His next hearing is February 9.
Wheeler was not selected in 2017, but signed with the New York Giants and played in 19 of 27 games. He was released by the team before the 2019 season and then was hired by the Seahawks’ training team. He saw no action on the pitch that year, but played five games last season.
Notable NFL figures responded to the news of Wheeler’s arrest and demanded that the league act.
The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive faces Zach Banner, who was Wheeler’s roommate in college, tweeted that Wheeler is “completely different” from the person he knew. “What he did was heartbreaking, and I will never forgive … My thoughts and prayers go to the victim. She and her health must be the (top) priority.”