NFL rookie arrested after throwing ‘tantrum’ outside club
A defensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks was arrested for disorderly conduct after allegedly throwing a “tantrum” at a nightclub outside Atlanta, where police said he flipped out in a dispute over $600.
Malik McDowell, who has yet to play this season after suffering a concussion during an ATV accident in July, got into an argument at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday outside of SL Lounge in Chamblee, where the rookie allegedly cursed out bouncers while claiming someone stole his money, according to an arrest report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I want my [expletive] money,” McDowell said. “I paid for my car to be parked and a [expletive] section.”
The club’s head of security told McDowell, however, that he hadn’t paid yet, that money was only accepted inside the club. McDowell and a friend were allowed back into the hotspot but were then asked to leave after he allegedly dumped two bottles of booze into a bucket of ice delivered to him by club employees.
McDowell continued yelling at officers outside the club, where cops struggled with the 6-foot-6, second-round draft pick from Michigan State, USA Today reported.
“I repeatedly had to give him instructions and at one point he threw himself down on the ground in a tantrum,” one responding officer wrote in the report. “He immediately accused me of stealing money from him, while I began to search his person, before placing him inside my vehicle, as we are trained to do. I tried to reason with him but to no avail.”
Both McDowell and his friend, identified by the Journal-Constitution as Kevin Epps, were later arrested on charges of disorderly conduct before being released on $325 bond.
A Seahawks spokesman said the team had no comment on Sunday because it was just learning of the incident, the Seattle Times reported. Coach Pete Carroll said last month that the 35th-overall pick in April’s draft won’t play this season because of the injuries.
McDowell, meanwhile, “liked” a report of his arrest by TMZ on his Twitter account, where he first acknowledged his injury to his more than 9,000 followers back in July. Sunday’s acknowledgement of TMZ’s coverage, however, prompted some heated replies to McDowell, including one that questioned whether he’d ever play a down in the NFL.
“Sure hope your account is hacked @MSU_LEEK4 for liking this post,” one reply read. “Ain’t nothing to like about it.”