NFL lineman Richie Incognito arrested at Scottsdale funeral home
Aug 21, 2018, 10:41 AM | Updated: 4:01 pm
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — NFL lineman Richie Incognito, who played high school football in the Phoenix area, was arrested at a Scottsdale funeral home Monday and held on misdemeanor charges of threats and disorderly conduct, police said.
Scottsdale Police Sgt. Ben Hoster told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Tuesday that Incognito, 35, was at the Messinger Pinnacle Peak Mortuary to make arrangements for his father, who died over the weekend. Incognito had tweeted about the death.
According to Hoster, the former Glendale Mountain Ridge High School star became upset with staff at the funeral home, shouting at them and making threatening gestures. He allegedly told them he had guns in his truck and would come back to shoot them.
Incognito had begun “acting erratically,” according to TMZ, asking the funeral home staff to “cut his dad’s head off for research purposes” and began “punching caskets and throwing things.”
Employees told police he had made them feel uncomfortable.
According to Scottsdale, Arizona police, Richie Incognito has been arrested and is facing counts of disorderly conduct and threats. More to come at PFT.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) August 21, 2018
“A search warrant was conducted on the vehicle, and several guns were recovered as part of the investigation,” Hoster said, adding that there was no indication there was anything illegal about the weapons.
The 35-year-old Incognito posted a $20,000 bond Tuesday afternoon. He has an Aug. 27 pretrial conference in Scottsdale Municipal Court.
Incognito, who is a free agent, played college ball at Nebraska.
He was released by the Buffalo Bills from their reserved/retired list in May. That was the same month when South Florida police detained him, citing an “altered, paranoid state” and that he had thrown weights at people at a gym.
Incognito had already made headlines in 2013, when he was accused of bullying a teammate on the Miami Dolphins. He was suspended.
Five years later, he was named an ambassador to an anti-bullying nonprofit.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Madison Spence and The Associated Press contributed to this report.