Written by Jeanna Thomas at SB Nation.com
The Pittsburgh Steelers are riding high following Sunday’s 30-12 win over the Miami Dolphins. Outside linebackers coach and former Steelers player Joey Porter, however, ended his night with an arrest for an altercation with a police officer.
The Steelers placed Porter on leave from the team on Monday, according to NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano. The length of Porter’s leave was not specified, but it’s reasonable to expect it will last through this week’s divisional matchup against the Kansas City chiefs.
Porter was arrested at 9:30 p.m. Sunday night outside of a bar called The Flats on the south side of Pittsburgh after an altercation with a doorman and security guards.
The police car with Porter in it just left. He was put in handcuffs. #Steelers
— Chris Mueller (@ByChrisMueller) January 9, 2017
According to the court complaint, the doorman later identified as Jon Neskow told Porter he couldn’t enter the bar because, “Last time you were here, you threatened to kill me.” When Porter then lunged at the bouncer, an off-duty officer pushed him back.
“I placed my hands on Porter’s chest to prevent him from advancing back towards Neskow,” the officer wrote. “Porter grabbed both of my wrists, pushing them back towards me. Porter’s grasp was so strong and he was holding my wrists so tightly that I could not pull them away from him, no matter how hard I tried. Porter was extremely agitated and after my observations of him grabbing Neskow and now grabbing me, I believed that he was going to cause me serious injury.”
Porter was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, public drunkenness and terroristic threats, per the Pittsburgh Police Department. On Monday morning, he posted $25,000 bail and released.
The Steelers’ Director of Communications, Burt Lauten, gave a statement Sunday night on Porter’s arrest to ESPN’s Josina Anderson.
“We are aware of an incident tonight involving Joey Porter,” the statement read. “We are still gathering information as it pertains to the situation, and we will have no further comment until we get more details.”
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