We all know how fired up people can get over parking spaces. Unfortunately for former NFL tight end Orson Charles, he took it too far.
The 31-year-old – who has not played professionally since 2018 – was arrested after pulling a gun on a pair of off-duty police officers in Tampa on Friday night. After Charles was beaten out on a desired parking spot on the street, he approached the driver’s side door.
Charles knocked on the window, pulled a gun from under his shirt, and threatened the off-duty police officers unless they moved their car. They showed their badges, but Charles was unfazed by their credentials.
The off-duty police officers then drove off to dissolve the situation but then alerted on-duty officers of what had just occurred. Shortly after, Charles was taken into custody. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed firearm. They are both felony offenses in the state of Florida.
Charles went to the University of Georgia and was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2012 NFL Draft. He played in 29 games over the next two seasons for the Bengals before Cincinnati released him. Over the next six years, Charles was signed by six different teams. Most recently, he appeared in 13 games for the Cleveland Browns in 2018.
He is originally from the Tampa area, so presumably, he was living back in his hometown at the time of his incident.
Orson Charles and Houston Texans Running Back Both in Trouble
On Friday, while Orson Charles was threatening off-duty police officers in Tampa, Darius Anderson was in Houston facing charges of his own. The Houston Texans running back was charged with burglary with an attempt to commit assault. A warrant or citation for his arrest has been issued.
According to the Houston Chronicle, Anderson forced his way into a woman’s home, causing her to fall onto a staircase. He then chased her through the home, and she grabbed a gun off a coffee table to prevent him from having access to it. She never pointed or shot the weapon but then went to hide in a bathroom.
She said Anderson then broke the lock to the bathroom door and yelled he was going to beat her up. He left after hearing her call the police. But he still stole an “unknown number” of the woman’s shoes on the way out.
The woman told police that she and Anderson had been in an “on and off” relationship for a year and that they had broken up two months prior to the incident. Still, he had been staying at her home every other night for the past month.
Seems like a wild situation and one that will keep Anderson off the field for quite a while. In the meantime, the Texans released a generic statement.
“We are gathering information and have no further comment at this time,” a spokesman said.
