Dolphins star arrested on battery charge for pushing his fiancée during a fight over a purse
Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard was arrested late Sunday after police say he pushed his fiancée into a glass wall at their home during a heated argument about a purse.
The football player, whose full name is Xavien Dewayne Howard-Arriola is being held at the Broward County Sheriff’s Office Main Jail on one count of domestic battery Monday, according to Davie police.
His fiancée, who has been living with the football player for more than five years and has three children with him, told police she got into a verbal argument with Howard, 26, about a recently purchased purse. The argument then got physical.
Howard, 6 feet and 200 pounds, “grabbed both her arms and pushed her back up against the mirrored glass wall in the hallway of their bedroom,” the police report states. Howard “then let her go, causing her to fall to the floor on her right arm, landing on his medical assisted walking crutch, which was on the floor.”
Police say they found the crutches next to the mirrored wall.
“One of the top support braces of the crutch was broken,” Officer Pedro Perez wrote in the report. “I inspected the mirrored glass wall which wasn’t damaged, but smudge marks were seen.”
His fiancée had “visible” scratches, redness on her right wrist and forearm and “redness and an abrasion” on her right elbow from falling on the crutches, according to police.
Howard, a former second-round pick out of Baylor, is considered the Dolphins’ best player, a shutdown cornerback who had seven interceptions and made the Pro Bowl in the 2018 season. The Dolphins rewarded him with a five-year, $75 million contract last May.
But Howard was limited to only five games this season because of a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery recently. He had one interception and 12 tackles this season.
Howard is now at risk of a league suspension to begin next season. The length of a suspension would be at the discretion of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Howard told officers he had knee pain from a recent surgery and was taken to Westside Regional Hospital before being booked to Broward Sheriff Office’s Main Jail, where he is being held on a $3,000 bond.
Howard is the second Dolphins player arrested on a domestic battery charge in the past two months. The Dolphins released running back Mark Walton after be was arrested for domestic battery in November. That was Walton’s fourth arrest in 2019, the other three coming earlier this season when Walton played for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Monday’s arrest was Howard’s first known arrest.
“We are aware of the situation and currently gathering information,” the Miami Dolphins said in a statement. “We will have no further comment at this time.”
Howard’s agent, Damarius Bilbo, had no immediate comment.
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 10:56 AM.
