Denver Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper was arrested Thursday on multiple charges that he violated a protection order filed against him earlier this week.
Cooper initially was arrested and jailed in Douglas County (Colo.) early last Friday on misdemeanor domestic violence charges before being released later that morning. A felony charge for second-degree assault by strangulation and an additional misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault stemming from that incident were announced in court on Wednesday, according to ESPN, citing court records.
On Thursday, he was charged with harassment from repeated phone calls as well as violation of a protection order. He was held overnight at the Douglas County Jail awaiting a scheduled court hearing Friday.
“We are disappointed to learn of Jonathon Cooper’s arrest on Thursday and continue to review this matter,” the Broncos said in a statement Friday morning.
Parker Police responded to a call and arrested Cooper at 11:16 p.m. on June 4. He was released from Douglas County Jail the following day on a personal recognizance bond.
Arrest records from June 4 indicate Cooper and his then-girlfriend were involved in a disagreement over allegations of infidelity that escalated to the pair fighting over their phones. In separate signed affidavits, the parties gave much different accounts of how the events unfolded.
Cooper claimed in his affidavit he grabbed his then-girlfriend’s arm as he was attempting to retrieve his phone which he alleged she had thrown across the room. He told police that during her attempt to get his phone, he “braced his neck against her neck.”
Cooper’s then-girlfriend told an officer that he had “grabbed her by the neck and held her against the wall for about a minute.” She also alleged that he picked her up and threw her on the ground three times and punched a wall next to her head.
“I started to cry and he pressed, like, further – cause he had me held up against the wall – he just pressed further and then dropped me and just started screaming at me that it was my fault and that I, like, caused this, and that I was like, a (expletive),” Cooper’s then-girlfriend told police, the Denver Post reported Friday, citing an updated arrest affidavit.
An officer at the scene said in an affidavit that the marks seen on Cooper’s then-girlfriend’s neck and body were not consistent with an assault. The officer recommended a forensic nurse examination, which took place at Anschutz Medical Center in Aurora and concluded the woman had experienced “strangulation with hypoxia and traumatic brain injury,” per the Post.
“Regarding seriously bodily injury, it is my medical opinion that the above … patient experienced physical injury which, either at the time of the actual injury or at a later time involved… (a) substantial risk of death (and) a substantial risk of protracted loss or impairment of the function of any part or organ on the body,” the nurse wrote in the affidavit, the Post reported.
Although Cooper initially denied there had been any physical altercation, he eventually acknowledged via head nods and “an mm-hmm” that he had grabbed his then-girlfriend’s neck “aggressive,” per the affidavit.
A pre-trial hearing was set for July 6 during Cooper’s court appearance on Monday. A trial date of July 22 falls within a week of the likely start of Denver’s training camp.
The NFL is aware of the charges and is monitoring the situation.
“I think the league has done a good job of kind of coming in and really taking over that responsibility,” Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Thursday, when asked if the NFL will be involved.
“We had a long visit with ‘Coop’, and now the process plays out. The league obviously will be very much involved in that. We’ll stay abreast, but much like you all. I think that’s where it’s at. We just go from there.”
Cooper, 28, has started every game in each of the past three seasons for Denver and has played in 81 games (65 starts) since the Broncos drafted him in the seventh round in 2021.
Cooper recorded eight sacks, 50 tackles and 16 quarterback hits last season. He has 31.5 sacks, 63 QB hits, 266 tackles, three fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown), two forced fumbles and one interception.
He signed a four-year, $60 million extension in November 2024.
–Field Level Media
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