Arrest warrant issued for former Ohio State linebacker accused of multiple assault charges
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A former Ohio State linebacker has been issued an arrest warrant by a Franklin County judge after he failed to appear in court.
On Monday morning, Darron Lee, who played with the Buckeyes for two years before going to the NFL, was issued an arrest warrant by Judge James Green after failing to appear in court Monday morning. According to his attorney, Lee, a Florida resident, was unable to travel to Columbus due to medical reasons for the first day of his standing trial pertaining to misdemeanor domestic violence charges.
The trial's initial start date was June 6 before Judge Green issued a continuance for Monday, but has denied a request for a third trial date.
Lee was charged in April with misdemeanor assault charges on two separate incidents with two different women with the first occurring in Oct. 2022 and the most recent one in April.
Police learned that on Oct. 17, 2022, Lee allegedly assaulted a second victim and threatened to kill her. Lee began choking her and threw a cell phone off a wall, which struck the victim and made her ear bleed.
He then reportedly followed the victim and picked her up by the neck and threw her to the ground. The woman was able to break free and leave the residence.
On April 3, officers found Lee and a woman who accused him of assaulting her and another person on separate occasions. The victim told police that when the woman approached Lee in a bedroom and asked him to leave, he became upset and began yelling. Lee then threw her against the wall and then to the ground, according to the criminal complaint document.
While she was on the ground, Lee punched the victim repeatedly around eight or nine times, then pulled her hair while over top of her. Officers added in the complaint document that two other women who were at the residence came upstairs to the victim’s aid.
He was a two-year starting linebacker at Ohio State and was part of the Buckeyes' national championship winning team in 2014. Lee also won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019.