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| Jonathan Dwyer and wife Kayla |
Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer head-butted his wife and broke her nose after she refused to have sex with him, and punched her in the face the next day, police revealed today.
The details surfaced in a law enforcement report a day after Dwyer was arrested on aggravated assault charges and deactivated from all team activities. He spent a night in jail and made a brief court appearance before being released early Thursday.
Dwyer, 25, was arrested Wednesday for investigation in two altercations that occurred on July 21 and 22 at his Phoenix residence, just days before the Cardinals reported to training camp.
His wife, 27-year-old Kayla Tobin Dwyer, left the state after the incidents, but came forward a week ago after Dwyer apparently sent suicidal text messages including a photo of a knife.
In the first encounter, police say Dwyer attempted to kiss and undress his wife, but she refused.
Someone who heard the argument reported the assault to police, who showed up at the apartment but did not make an arrest. Dwyer hid in a bathroom and the wife denied he was in the home because the running back threatened to kill himself in front of her and their child if she told police about the assault, police said.
The next day, Dwyer punched his wife with a closed fist on the left side of her face, according to police. He also punched walls and threw a shoe at his 17-month-old son, who was not injured.
As Kayla Dwyer tried to call police, Dwyer grabbed her cellphone and threw it down from the home's second story. Witnesses told police that Dwyer's wife said, ‘I'm calling the police’ as she held her swollen face and clutched her son.
During his police interview, Dwyer acknowledged hiding in the bathroom when police responded to the first argument and sending a photo of a knife with suicidal threats.
Dwyer denied committing an assault, though he acknowledged that he punched walls in his home, threw a phone and that his wife bit his lip during the disputes, according to the police report. As he was released from jail Thursday, he said he never hurt his son.
Jonathan Dwyer was released from jail at around 5am Thursday after posting a $25,000 cash bond. When asked by a gaggle of reporters if he will ever play football again, he simply replied: 'I will,' according to KPHO.
Dwyer was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device and banned from having contact with his wife and so; he also cannot travel outside Arizona or be in possession of weapons, drugs or alcohol.
Authorities depicted a stormy relationship between Dwyer and his wife, a flight attendant from North Carolina, that escalated into violence on July 21, four days before the Cardinals reported to training camp.
Neighbors heard a fight and called police, who showed up at the residence but left without making an arrest because Dwyer hid in the bathroom and the woman said no one else was at the home, Sgt. Trent Crump told the Associated Press.
'She said she was in an argument on the phone only,' Crump said.
'[Police officers] were convinced that the fight was verbal [and] that it was called in by a third party,' Crump also told AZ Central. '[The 27-year-old woman] convinced them of that while he was hiding in the home.'
The Cardinals released a statement Wednesday saying 'We became aware of these allegations this afternoon when notified by Phoenix police and are cooperating fully.
'Given the serious nature of the allegations we have taken the immediate step to deactivate Jonathan from all team activities.
'We will continue to closely monitor this as it develops and evaluate additional information as it becomes available.'
The NFL said the case will be reviewed under the league's personal-conduct policy.
The NFL has been rocked by domestic violence issues ever since a videotape surfaced that showed former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking out his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City, New Jersey, elevator. Then Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson was indicted on felony child-abuse charges. On Wednesday, the Carolina Panthers decided that star defensive end Greg Hardy will not play any more games for the team until his domestic violence case is resolved.
Hardy was convicted of assault on a female and communicating threats after the victim said the 6-foot-4, 275-pound player threw her in the bathtub and onto a sofa covered with guns before threatening to kill her. Hardy is appealing the ruling.
Critics have been calling for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's resignation for his handling of Rice's case. Rice was originally suspended for two games, then banned indefinitely after the video surfaced of his attack in the casino elevator.
This is the second domestic violence case involving a Cardinals player. Inside linebacker Daryl Washington pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend and is serving a year of supervised probation. Washington has not yet been penalized by the NFL for the offense but is suspended for this season for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Dwyer was led into the jail in handcuffs to be booked on counts that include aggravated assault causing a fracture and involving a minor, criminal damage and preventing the use of a phone in an emergency.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, said Dwyer has refused all media interviews.
Dwyer signed with the Cardinals this year and was their second-string running back after spending the last four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He scored a touchdown last week in Arizona's victory over the New York Giants.
His best year for Pittsburgh was 2012 when injuries depleted the team's backfield in the middle of the season and Dwyer filled in and had 100-yard-plus games in consecutive weeks.
Dwyer, from Marietta, Georgia, was a sixth-round draft pick of the Steelers out of Georgia Tech in 2010.
Colossians 3:
19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
1 Timothy 2:
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
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