Prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman Chad Wheeler with first-degree domestic violence and illegal domestic violence after he allegedly attacked his girlfriend over the weekend. Both charges are considered crimes.
Wheeler was also charged with resisting arrest, a felony under Washington law, according to a spokesman for the King County Prosecutor’s Office in Washington State.
Wheeler was remanded in King County Jail and released on $ 400,000 on Tuesday, prison records show. A judge ordered Wheeler not to have contact with the victim and to hand over any weapon, according to officials.
The allegations come hours after the Seahawks issued a statement saying that Wheeler is a free agent and “is no longer with the team.” According to the official NFL trading list, the Seahawks withdrew Wheeler from the team on Wednesday.
The team encouraged him to seek help and share information with victims of domestic violence and those suffering from mental health problems.
“The Seahawks are saddened by the details 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 case that Wheeler allegedly attacked and strangled the victim in her bedroom on January 22. He allegedly knocked her unconscious twice and left her both for death.
According to a police report, officers responded to an internal dispute at an apartment in Kent, after Wheeler’s girlfriend called 911 and told the operator she was “killed.” When they arrived, she was screaming inside, forcing officers to enter the house, the report said.
Wheeler initially resisted 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 was lame on her body, according to the report.
The woman claimed that Wheeler strangled her and, at one point, used one of her hands and “crushed” her nose and mouth to “stop breathing”, the report states. He started to fight back, but lost consciousness, the report says. When she woke up, Wheeler asked, “Wow, are you alive?” – She also ran to the bathroom and started calling 911, the report says.
The report lists the woman with a height of 5 feet and 9 inches and weighing 145 pounds, and Wheeler at 6 feet with a height of 7 inches and weighing 310 pounds.
Officers arrived shortly after Wheeler chose the bathroom lock and apologized to the woman, the report said. The woman claimed that Wheeler was suffering from bipolar disorder and was taking medication, but did not take them recently, the report said, adding that she told police that the couple had met for six months without “notable problems”.
Prosecutors have asked the court to place Wheeler on electronic home detection and to equip his ankle monitoring device with GPS. His next trial is February 9.
Wheeler went undefeated in 2017, but signed with the New York Giants and played in 19 of the 27 games. He was released by the team before the 2019 season and then signed with the Seahawks training team. He didn’t see any action on the field that year, but he played in five games last season.
Notable NFL figures reacted to the news of Wheeler’s arrest and called on the league to take action.
Pittsburgh Steelers offensive lineman Zach Banner, who was Wheeler’s roommate in college, posted on Twitter that Wheeler is “completely different” than the person he knew. “What he did was heartbreaking and I will never forgive … My thoughts and prayers are passed on to the victim. She and her health should be the (highest) priority.”