Ex-Giant Chad Wheeler arrested on suspicion of domestic violence
Former New York Giants offensive tackle Chad Wheeler, currently on the Seattle Seahawks’ roster, was being held in King County Jail on Monday night, charged with suspicion of felony domestic violence and is accused of assaulting his girlfriend at a residence in nearby Kent.
Wheeler appeared in King County District Court and bail was set at $400,000. He was also ordered not to have contact with the alleged victim and to surrender all weapons. He has been in custody since early Saturday morning.
A Kent Police Department report said police responded to a call of a woman who was locked in a bathroom following a “physical fight” with her boyfriend.
The victim had called 911 to state that she was being “killed.” Police were advised that she had suffered a dislocated arm and was bleeding.
According to the report, when officers arrived they could hear screaming from inside the apartment, and after forcing their way in they heard more screaming from a bathroom. They forced their way in to the bathroom and found the victim and Wheeler. He was standing beside her, the report said.
That is all disturbing enough but the details of the story tell of a troubled young man.
“Wheeler had been on medication for bi-polar disorder but had not taken it of late,” as per the Seattle Times. “The report said the incident began when Wheeler asked the victim to bow to him, and when she did not he grabbed her and threw her on a bed. The report said Wheeler then strangled the victim before she lost consciousness. The report also said when she regained consciousness, Wheeler was standing near the bed and said, “Wow you’re alive?”
This is not Wheeler’s first scape with law enforcement. In 2015, while at USC, he was involved in a violent incident on campus and was subdued with bean bags by police but was not arrested.
The 6-foot-7, 318 pound Wheeler was signed by the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of USC in 2017. He started five games at tackle in 2017 and 14 in 2018. He was released by the Giants during final training camp cuts in 2019. He was signed by the Seahawks that October.
