Former New England Patriots offensive lineman Shaq Mason was arrested after an alleged domestic assault incident, TMZ reports. Court documents and Franklin, Tennessee, police say that Mason — who spent seven seasons in New England and won two Super Bowls — broke into the mother of his child’s home just after 3 a.m. Wednesday morning and choked her out, before allegedly saying “he was going to kill her.”
He was arrested and booked Wednesday morning following a traffic stop.
The 31-year-old Mason was charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated burglary, one count of harassment and one count of driving on a suspended license. His bond is set at $150,000, according to TMZ. Court documents obtained by TMZ also state that Mason has remained in police custody, as of Wednesday afternoon.
Police officers on the scene noticed a “fresh laceration” on the woman’s bottom lip, and court documents state that Mason allegedly punches the woman in the face. Mason sent the woman a selfie saying “Im gonna kill you.” Mason is set to turn 32 years old on Thursday.
Mason was selected in the fourth round by the Patriots back in 2015, and remained the team’s starting right guard until the 2021 season. Mason started 98 of the 103 regular season games with the Patriots during his seven-year tenure. After that year, he was traded to the Tamp Bay Buccaneers, and New England replaced him by selecting Cole Strange in the first round of that year’s draft.
After a short stint with the Buccaneers — in which he reunited with former teammate and now-Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady — Mason spent two years with the Houston Texans. He played in 32 games with the Texans and was released in March. He remained a free agent ever since.
Mason is a native of Columbia, Tennessee, and attended Columbia Central High School before earning a scholarship to play at Georgia Tech. He was named First Team All-ACC in 2013, and Second Team All-ACC in 2014 before hearing his name called by the defending Super Bowl champions in the NFL Draft. In June, he was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.
Mason is scheduled to have a court hearing on the arrest in October.
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