Ex-Seahawk Chad Wheeler pleads not guilty to felony domestic violence
Former Seahawks backup offensive lineman Chad Wheeler pleaded not guilty Monday to felony charges of domestic-violence assault and domestic-violence unlawful imprisonment plus a charge of resisting arrest, a spokesman for the King County prosecuting attorney’s office told The News Tribune.
Wheeler entered his pleas at his arraignment Monday morning at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.
His trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. April 6.
The presiding judge kept Wheeler’s bail at $400,000. Wheeler has been out on bond since Jan. 26, three days after he was jailed for allegedly attacking and strangling his girlfriend to the point she became unconscious inside an apartment in Kent.
The judge refused to grant Wheeler his request to return to his offseason home in Hawaii. He ordered the 27-year-old tackle to remain in Washington and under electronic monitoring.
The Seahawks released an extraordinary statement Wednesday to “strongly condemn” Wheeler and to emphasize they had cut ties with him. The team let his contract expire at the end of the 2020, during which he played in five games.
“We encourage Chad to get the help he needs,” the Seahawks’ statement said, in part.
The team’s statement included urging anyone experiencing domestic assault to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or to go online to thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The team noted the hotline is available all day every day in more than 170 languages.
To reinforce they are done with him, the Seahawks placed Wheeler on league waivers. That absolves the team of even the option to not tender a restricted free-agent contract offer to him, which Seattle wasn’t going to do, anyway.
He went unclaimed on NFL waivers last week. He is thus a free agent, out of the league, at least for now. The NFL has the right to suspend him under the league’s personal-conduct policy and will investigate whether to do so.
Charging documents filed in court Wednesday allege the 6-foot-7, 310-pound Wheeler “strangled, suffocated and beat” his 5-9, 145-pound girlfriend Friday night inside an apartment in Kent “into unconsciousness—twice—both times leaving her for dead as blood poured from her nose and mouth, preventing her from breathing.”
The charging documents state Kent police responding to the alleged victim’s 911 call eventually fired a Taser round into the body of an uncooperative Wheeler in an attempt to detain him, “with little effect.”
The documents also state scans taken of the woman at Valley Medical Center revealed a fractured humerus in her left arm, and she showed “signs of strangulation.” She showed signs of having aspirated fluid in her lung” and that “over the next day, she vomited large amounts of blood.”
Doctors found swelling and bruising in the woman’s face they believed was consistent with her having been punched. She reported not recalling Wheeler striking her in the face, but that he had choked her to the point she became unconscious.
“The injuries, then, would either be the result of the defendant repeatedly punching the victim in the face as she lay unconscious,” the prosecutor’s charging document signed by Jason D. Brookhyser senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County states, “or those injuries were inflicted as the defendant pressed his hand down against her nose and mouth, preventing her from breathing.”
A King County judge is requiring Wheeler to be put on electronic home detention, with an ankle-monitoring device equipped with GPS tracking capability. A judge also issued a no-contact order between Wheeler and the alleged victim through March 8.
Wheeler wrote on his Twitter account online Wednesday after the Seahawks released their statement:
“Events happened over the weekend that transpired from a manic episode. I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering that I have caused... . I apologize profusely for the turmoil that I have caused to my family, teammates, fans and those closest to me. The most important thing right now is that (the victim) gets the care she needs and I get help. Both are happening. It is time for me to walk away from football and get the help I need to never again pose a threat to another. I cannot express my sorrow or remorse enough. I am truly ashamed.”
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 11:47 AM.
