TMZ Sports is reporting that Chicago Bears defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. has been charged with assault stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident that took place in a North Carolina hotel room on October 17, 2020, which was the day before they played the Carolina Panthers.
Edwards tells TMZ, through his agent Peter Schaffer, that he did nothing wrong on the night in question. “Mario Edwards doesn’t condone domestic violence,” Schaffer said. “At no time did Mario Edwards do anything that raised to the level of domestic violence, or any violence.”
TMZ has a copy of the police report and Edwards is also listed as a victim.
In the narrative section (of the police report), cops say they were called in reference to a woman hitting a man and scratching his forehead.
Edwards isn’t denying there was a verbal altercation with the woman, but he says it never escalated to physical violence on his end. Schaffer added that “when she started to scream and yell, Mario did what he’s been told. Walk away and de-escalate the situation.”
According to documents obtained by TMZ, the woman claims to have been smacked in the eye by Edwards when she tried to record the incident, grabbed by the arm and dragged to the hotel door, and then the attack continued down the hallway before she was hit in the arm.
She claims there is a history of violence with Edwards, that she was taken to the hospital for this attack and that she was pregnant at the time of this incident.
The Bears have probably known about this since October, and if so, they’ve already conducted an investigation. Now that North Carolina prosecutors are going forward with an assault case, the team will likely make a statement at some point.
UPDATE: The Bears issued a statement this 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.”