Bears defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. accused of misdemeanor assault in October incident with woman in North Carolina
CHICAGO — A criminal summons has been issued for Chicago Bears defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. for misdemeanor assault on a female, a spokesman for the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office in North Carolina said Tuesday.
The charge stems from an incident at the Hilton Charlotte City Center on Oct. 17, the night before the Bears were set to play the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.
A police report obtained by the Chicago Tribune from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department states officers were called to the hotel “in reference to a female hitting a male with her hand and scratching his forehead.” Edwards, 26, and a 28-year-old woman were both listed as victims on the report, with the offenses listed as simple assault and assault on a female.
TMZ reported Tuesday morning that court documents showed the woman claimed Edwards became violent after she turned down his sexual advances. According to the TMZ report, the woman alleged that Edwards reacted by “smacking her in the eye with his hand,” grabbed her arm, “dragged her to the door of the hotel room” and continued the attack down the hall.
Peter Schaffer, Edwards’ agent, said Edwards had consensual sexual activity with the woman in her hotel room but never touched her violently. Schaffer said the woman became angry after a disagreement about the extent of their relationship, but Edwards left and went to hotel security to escape a fight.
“Mario and I abhor domestic violence,” Schaffer said. “There’s no place for any violence in our society, certainly domestic violence. We would never condone it under any situation, and to Mario’s credit, he did exactly what we teach him to do — de-escalate and escape.”
Schaffer said they reported the incident to the Bears, the NFL and the NFLPA on the Monday morning after it happened, even though they considered Edwards to be the victim. He said the woman’s lawyer contacted them two weeks ago regarding her allegations.
The summons has not yet been served, so no court date has been set, according to the district attorney’s office. A spokesman from the Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court said the criminal court documents wouldn’t be made public until after the summons was served.
The Bears issued the following statement on the matter Tuesday afternoon:
“We are aware of the situation involving Mario Edwards Jr. We are doing our due diligence to thoroughly review and understand the facts. We take any allegations of this nature very seriously, both internally and with the NFL.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy isn’t scheduled to speak with the media until Wednesday afternoon, when he likely will be asked how much the team knew and when. Edwards played against the Panthers, recording a sack, two tackles and a tackle for a loss.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the matter remains under review of the league’s personal conduct policy. The league or the Bears also could fine Edwards for violating a COVID-19 protocol that says players, coaches and staff who travel to games “are prohibited from congregating, visiting or mingling with individuals outside of the traveling party once they have arrived in the game city.”
Edwards was a second-round draft pick of the Oakland Raiders in 2015 and has played for four teams over six NFL seasons. The Bears signed Edwards on Sept. 8. and he has played 12 games for them this season, recording four sacks, 14 tackles, six tackles for a loss and six quarterback hits.
