New England Patriots defensive lineman Christian J. Barmore faces domestic violence and battery charges after his girlfriend told police he threw her to the ground at their home outside Boston in August.
A criminal complaint released on Dec. 18 said Barmore, 26, briefly took the woman’s cell phone away from her home in Mansfield, Massachusetts, threw her to the ground and grabbed her by her shirt.
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Mansfield police Sgt. John Armstrong said the woman reported the incident to police on Aug. 25, reporting what happened nearly three weeks earlier. The woman told police she lived at the home regularly during the years they dated.
Barmore’s attorney, David Meyer, said in a statement Wednesday that “the evidence will prove that no criminal conduct occurred.” Meyer called the matter personal and said he hoped it would be “resolved in the near future and the parties will move forward together.”
The woman told police that she walked into Barmore’s bedroom with her daughter early on the morning of August 8 and that Barmore was upset because the thermostat was 2 degrees higher than his preferred temperature. She said their daughter wanted to meet him.
She claimed Barmore “picked up the child, placed her on the floor outside the master bedroom, then turned back into the room and slammed the door,” according to police.
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Later that day, as the woman was packing her bags to leave, Barmore grabbed the phone from her hands and hung up on the woman’s mother, the criminal complaint said. As she walked toward the front door to get help, Barmore “grabbed her before she could and threw her to the floor,” police said.
She told police Barmore grabbed her shirt but “eventually let go” and the woman stood up. A car provided by the team picked up the woman and their daughter and drove them to Delaware. She provided police with a photo showing what she said were bruises when she was thrown to the floor.
New England head coach Mike Vrabel said Barmore was out with the team Wednesday due to illness, but he hasn’t heard anything that would keep him out of Sunday’s game.
“We have issued a statement and we take these allegations very seriously,” Vrabel said, referring to the allegations against Barmore and receiver Stefon Diggs. Diggs was charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery in a dispute with his former personal chef.
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“I don’t think we need to rush to any conclusions right now. Let the process pay its due,” Vrabel said.
An arraignment is scheduled for early February. The charge is a misdemeanor.
The team’s public relations office issued a statement via email saying it was aware of the incident when it occurred and notified the league.
The Patriots said: “This matter remains part of the ongoing legal process. We will respect that process, continue to monitor developments closely, as we have done over the past several months, and fully cooperate with the league.”
Barmore is a 2021 second-round pick out of the University of Alabama.
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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Kyle Hightower contributed from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
