NFL’s Jonathan Dwyer arrested for allegedly head-butting, punching wife Kayla Tobin and assaulting 17-month-old son

The latest in a string of high-profile arrests for the NFL is Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer, who has been charged with aggravated assault of his wife, Kayla Tobin Dwyer (seen with Jonathan Dwyer in the photo above), and his 17-month-old son. According to police reports, Dwyer allegedly head-butted his wife after she refused his sexual advances, resulting in a broken nose. He then reportedly punched her in the face the following day. In addition, he is also accused of hurling a shoe at his 17-month-old son during one of the disputes.

Dwyer (mug shot photo above) was arrested Wednesday at the Cardinals’ Tempe training facility prior to practice. He was held overnight and was released early Thursday morning after a brief court appearance and posting a $25,000 bond.

Here is a tweet from Dwyer on Valentine’s Day that includes a photo of his wife and son:

These two are my motivation and my inspiration to be great in all I do & gave me that fire to never be satisfied. pic.twitter.com/whpZoeWYu8

— Jonathan Dwyer (@JDwyer27) February 14, 2014

The incidents in question occurred on consecutive days back in July at Dwyer’s home in Phoenix. On July 21 Dwyer, 25, allegedly attempted to kiss and undress his wife, 27, but she turned away his advances. That resulted in an altercation that was overheard by a third party who contacted the police. When officers arrived on the scene, Dwyer hid himself in the bathroom and his wife told police he was not there because Dwyer had told her he would kill himself in sight of her and their son if she reported the assault.

The following day Dwyer reportedly punched his wife in the face with a closed fist, punched walls, and hurled a shoe at his toddler son. According to police, Dwyer’s wife attempted to call police, but he threw her phone from the second story of their residence. Witnesses told police that his wife was holding her swollen face and her son as she said, “I’m calling the police.”

After the second incident, Dwyer’s wife left the state with their son. She reported the incident last week, with most assuming it was due in part to the graphic video of Ray Rice punching his wife in an elevator that was first published by TMZ.

Here is a video report from ESPN:

After Dwyer’s arrest, the Arizona Cardinals issued the following statement:

We became aware of these allegations this afternoon when notified by Phoenix police and are cooperating fully.

Given the serious nature of the allegations we have taken the immediate step to deactivate Jonathan from all team activities.

We will continue to closely monitor this as it develops and evaluate additional information as it becomes available.

Here’s a photo of Jonathan Dwyer, wife Kayla Tobin Dwyer and their son together on an outing to the zoo:

It is being reported that Dwyer will be paid during his leave, which seems to be standard practice in these situations. Carolina Panthers defensive linemen Greg Hardy is reportedly making $771,000 a week as he sits out amidst domestic violence charges while the Minnesota Vikings’ star running back Adrian Peterson is making $691,000 a week to not suit up as he prepares to defend himself against multiple charges of child abuse involving two of his children. Ray Rice, on the other hand, was let go by the Ravens before being given an indefinite suspension by the league. The NFL Players Association has since filed a grievance on behalf of Rice requesting that the indefinite suspension be overturned.

Dwyer addressed the Ray Rice incident on Twitter on September 9th in response to a tweet wishing NFL players would speak out against Rice’s actions:

@maryebrennan that's bc we can't talk like that all of us don't support domestic violets but we can't dog nobody

— Jonathan Dwyer (@JDwyer27) September 9, 2014

Meanwhile, Dwyer’s Cardinals teammate, inside linebacker Daryl Washington pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend in April and is currently serving his sentence of one year of probation. Washington has been suspended for the season by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy, but the league has yet to address the assault charge.