LEETSDALE, Pa. (AP) — Cleveland Browns linebacker Devin Bush was charged with harassment and misdemeanor simple assault over the weekend after allegedly chasing a woman through his house in suburban Pittsburgh and smashing her cellphone.
Officers said they responded to a 911 call on Sunday from the home in Sewickley, where a woman identified only as Bush’s girlfriend alleged he assaulted her, took her car keys and broke the phone to prevent her from calling for help.
Bush, 26, is a former first-round draft pick who spent four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers and one in Seattle before signing with the Browns last year. Messages seeking comment were left for Bush and with agent Drew Rosenhaus. Court officials said Bush did not have a defense attorney on record.
A Browns spokesman told The Associated Press in a text message that the team is “aware and gathering more information.”
A Bell Acres Borough Police Department officer wrote in charging documents that the woman said they had argued Sunday morning about a friend of Bush’s and a mess in the kitchen.
As Bush became “more aggressive,” the woman began recording him on her phone, police said. Bush chased her and pinned her against a massage table, the woman told investigators. She said Bush “put his full body weight on to her” to grab her phone, police said.
Bush grabbed the phone and smashed it “so that she could not call for help” and also sought her iPad, she told police.
She and her daughter fled to a neighbor’s home. There were visible injuries on her right wrist and right foot, according to a police affidavit. The woman told investigators that both injuries occurred while Bush was trying to take her phone.
Bush told police he did not want to be video recorded in his home. “Bush did admit to smashing the cellphone but denied getting physical” with the woman, police wrote.
The former University of Michigan player started 10 games for the Browns last year and was fourth on the team with 76 tackles. He signed a one-year, $3.25 million deal in March to remain with Cleveland.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 20.
