Texas men's basketball coach Chris Beard is arrested for 'strangling family member'

Texas men’s basketball coach Chris Beard has been arrested on a felony domestic violence charge after allegedly strangling a family or household member, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.

The 49-year-old Beard was booked for third-degree assault at 4:18am local time, police have confirmed to DailyMail.com. The charge is listed as: ‘Assault on family/household member impede breath circulation.’ 

He is currently booked at the Travis County Jail. Bond has not been set, and an arrest affidavit is not currently available, according to the Travis County Clerk’s office. 

Beard’s attorney, Perry Minton, told the Austin American-Statesman that his client ‘is 100 percent innocent of these charges.’ 

Texas basketball coach Chris Beard has been arrested on a felony domestic violence charge after allegedly strangling a family member, according to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office

Austin police say they took a ‘disturbance hotshot’ call after midnight and officers were dispatched to the 1900 block of Vista Lane in a residential area of Texas’ capital city. Beard has a listed address on that street. 

A ‘hotshot’ call is described on the department’s website as an ‘incidents which are in progress [that] are an immediate threat to life and/or public safety.’

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The Longhorns are currently ranked second overall in the Associated Press poll at 7-1, and are scheduled to host in-state rival Rice on Monday night.

Beard is currently in his second season at Texas after leaving Texas Tech in 2021.

Austin police say they took a ‘disturbance hotshot’ call after midnight and officers were dispatched to Vista Lane in a residential area of Texas’ capital city. Beard has a listed address on that street (pictured)

The school has released a brief statement following the arrest: ‘The university is aware of the situation regarding Chris Beard. We are continuing to gather information and monitoring the legal process.’ 

Beard and his wife, Leslie, have three daughters, according to his bio from Angelo State University, where he coached from 2013 until 2015.

Since then, the 49-year-old has coached at Little Rock and Texas Tech, where he was named the AP National Coach of the Year in 2019 as he guided the Red Raiders to the NCAA title game. Ultimately Texas Tech would lose to Virginia, but the tournament run would help Beard to sign a reported seven-year, $35 million deal with the Texas athletic department in April of 2021.

Beard and the Longhorns went 22–12 last season before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  

Beard and the Longhorns went 22–12 last season before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament