DAVIE, Fl. — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson was arrested and charged with domestic violence Saturday night, which was first reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Associated Press confirms that Johnson, 34, is accused of head-butting his newlywed wife, Evelyn Lozada, during an argument while the couple was inside a vehicle in front of their home in Davie, Fla.
Davie police Capt. Dale Engle says Johnson and his wife were at dinner Saturday night and she confronted him about a receipt she had found for a box of condoms. Lozada is on the reality show, ''Basketball Wives,'' and the couple married in July.
Engle says when they arrived at their driveway, Lozada says Johnson head-butted her. She was treated at a hospital for a forehead cut. Engle says Johnson is in the Broward County Jail where he will remain until he can appear before a judge, which Engle says might not be until Monday. He is charged with simple battery, domestic violence, which is a misdemeanor.
Team officials were ''aware of the situation and are in the process of gathering of relevant information,'' Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene said.
Johnson's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declined to comment.
That means a weekend that would have been a speed bump for the team — starting quarterback David Garrard surprisingly announced Friday he'll need knee surgery and will be out two to four weeks — now becomes a hurdle.
Johnson, both colorful and enigmatic, has been a study of contrasts so far. He was his usual entertaining self in his only press conference of training camp on Aug. 1. But he dropped so many “F-bombs” that first-year coach Joe Philbin told Johnson to control his speech. The scene was captured on the inaugural episode of HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”
Johnson, who said earlier this summer that he was changing his last name back from Ochocinco, remarked earlier in the week that he was going on a media boycott. But the silence lasted only a few days, as he spoke to reporters after Friday’s game.
Johnson, signed by the Dolphins in June four days after being released following his one season in New England, dropped the only pass thrown his way in Friday’s 20-7 preseason-opening loss against Tampa Bay.
