Richard Sherman Arrested After Dispute at In-Laws’ House

Richard Sherman, the free-agent cornerback who is one of the most visible stars in the N.F.L., was arrested early Wednesday morning in Redmond, Wash. and booked into jail after the police said he tried to break down the door and enter the house of his in-laws.

He is accused of “burglary domestic violence,” because he knows the people at the home, but there is no indication that he physically harmed anyone.

Sherman, who has been in jail since Wednesday morning, has not been charged or arraigned in front of a judge. He will likely appear in court on Thursday.

Sherman, a 10-year N.F.L. veteran, played the past three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and was on the Seattle Seahawks before that.

According to Chief Darrell Lowe of the Redmond police department, officers were called shortly before 2 a.m. because Sherman was attempting to forcibly enter a home. The police said they talked to Sherman amiably, and that one officer knew Sherman from a job as a valet.

But when the officers attempted to place him under arrest, Sherman walked away from them, according to Lowe. Sherman and police officers got into a physical altercation and a police dog was deployed to help subdue him, Lowe said.

Lowe said an officer sustained minor scrapes and Sherman went to a hospital with minor injuries on his lower leg and ankle.

The home Sherman attempted to enter belonged to the parents of his wife. According to the police account, four adults were present at the home.

Sherman did not have physical contact with anyone besides the officers, but Lowe said he had a “verbal altercation” with some of the people at the home before the police arrived. The burglary component of the booking charge was because he attempted to enter a home that was not his, and the domestic violence component was because he had a relationship to the occupants of the home through his wife.

Police also have accused Sherman of malicious mischief because they said he damaged the door of the home.

Sherman does not have an agent. Members of his immediate family did not respond to phone calls.

It is unclear if Sherman has retained a lawyer.

His wife, Ashley, who married Sherman in 2018, told The Seattle Times Wednesday: “At this time we’re going to make no statements, except he didn’t harm anybody. My kids were not harmed in the incident. He’s a good person and this is not his character. We’re doing all right, just trying to get him out. I want people to know no one was injured.”

Sherman is also being investigated in connection to a single-vehicle collision that occurred shortly before he was arrested.

Ron Mead, a captain with the Washington State Patrol, said that at 1:26 a.m. police received a report from a construction worker of a collision on state highway 520, which runs through Redmond. The construction worker said a car had been driven into a construction zone and struck a concrete barrier before later driving off.

Troopers investigating the crash found Sherman’s car in a commercial parking lot about a half-mile away from the construction zone. Mead said that there was extensive damage to the driver-side door and tire, and that the car was driven until it could not be driven anymore.

The parking lot is about two miles away from the residence where Sherman was arrested. Lowe said that it is believed that Sherman walked to the residence.

Police obtained a search warrant for a blood sample because they believed he may have been driving under the influence, Mead said. The results from that search warrant were not yet available.

Sherman is on the executive committee of the N.F.L. Players Association. In a statement Wednesday, the union said it was aware that “one of our player leaders” was arrested “for an alleged domestic violence incident” and had activated its domestic violence crisis protocol “for the protection and support of everyone involved.”

Now 33, the three-time All-Pro is a free agent. He represented himself in his last contract negotiation in 2018.

He played his first seven seasons with the Seattle Seahawks and kept a home in the area during his tenure with the 49ers. He spent much of last season on the injured reserve list.

The N.F.L. said in a statement that it investigates any incident involving law enforcement to see if there is a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy.