Warren Sapp released from jail
Former Tampa Bay defensive star set free on $1,500
(U.S.) bond a day after being arrested for allegedly
choking a woman.
Former NFL star Warren Sapp was released from jail Sunday on $1,500 (U.S.) bond, a day after being arrested for allegedly choking a woman in his hotel room.
Sapp was released at about 11 a.m. Sunday — a time the NFL Network analyst would have been helping with Super Bowl coverage.
The network has pulled Sapp off the air until it investigates the matter.
Police arrested Sapp on Saturday on one charge of misdemeanour domestic battery. An arrest affidavit says the incident happened around 5 a.m. Saturday in the former defensive tackle’s hotel room at the Shore Club on Miami Beach.
Sapp’s attorney said the former player is taking the matter seriously and will co-operate with authorities.
“He sincerely apologizes to the NFL family and fans for taking away any distraction from today’s big game,” Christopher Lyons said. “We ask that everyone reserve judgment on the matter until all the facts come out in a court of law.”
The woman said she had been dating Sapp about two years. She told officers the two were partying with a large group of friends when she got tired and went to lay down.
Sapp entered hours later, pulled her out of bed and tried to get her out of the room, according to the complaint. The complaint says he yelled at the woman about men she had been hanging out with and men listed in her cellphone.
The woman told police Sapp choked her, threw her down on a couch, then picked her up by her shirt and neck and threw her down again — injuring her leg.
The victim had a swollen knee and bruises on her neck, the affidavit says. She was taken to the hospital.
Sapp told investigators he let the woman stay in his room but asked her to leave a few hours later because he was expecting company. He told police the woman fell on her leg when he tried to help her get off a couch.
Sapp played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders during a 13-year NFL career. He also was once a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
