Browns' Malik McDowell is arrested after attacking Florida cop while NAKED and walking near a preschool: Lawyer claims 6-foot-6, 295-pound defensive tackle may have been 'drugged by someone'
Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Malik McDowell was arrested for public exposure and beating a deputy in Deerfield Beach, Florida on Monday
Police were responding to a report that a naked man was walking near a school
The 25-year-old Detroit native's alleged 'violent attack' left officer 'dazed'
The preschool went into a brief lockdown when McDowell appeared outside
McDowell's attorney claims someone may have drugged his client
In 2017, he was arrested for DUI and disorderly conduct and in 2019, he had a drunken brawl with Michigan police and later received a two-game suspension
McDowell ultimately pled guilty to assault, resisting arrest, and operating a vehicle while intoxicated for the 2019 incident. He reportedly is still on probation
He was a highly-touted second-round pick in 2017, but after signing a four-year, $6.95 million contract with Seattle, McDowell got into an ATV accident in 2017
He resurfaced in the NFL in 2021 with the Brows, starting 16 games for Cleveland
McDowell will become a free agent in March, so the arrest may cost him his job
January 18, 2022
"Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Malik McDowell was arrested for public exposure and beating a police deputy in Florida on Monday after he wandered naked onto a preschool's property.
Video from the arrest shows thenude 6-foot-6, 295-poundMcDowell surrounded by officers in the parking lot of the Deerfield Beach school known as the Learning Center. He is accused of exposing himself publicly, resisting arrest with violence, and battery on a law enforcement officer.
'There is surveillance video that Mr. McDowell actually went onto the property of the Learning Center while naked,' a prosecutor said during Tuesday's arraignment.
McDowell allegedly punched a deputy with a closed fist after the officer approached the naked Browns player as he sat on a curb, according to a police report obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
'[McDowell] charged at me … at full speed with closed fist,' the officer said in the report.
Video shows officers securing his legs and arms in shackles before McDowell was placed on a stretcher, covered in a blanket and wheeled away.
His attorney claims that someone may have drugged the 25-year-old.
'Somebody may have slipped him something or given him something that he wasn't aware of, which explains some of this bizarre behavior,' the attorney told Local10.com.
The preschool went into a brief lockdown when teachers saw 'a gentleman roaming the parking lot without any clothing on,' according to company spokesperson Nan Zamora.
'He seemed to be not himself,' Zamora told Local10.com.
McDowell was still being held in jail on $31,000 bond as of late Tuesday afternoon, according Broward County Sheriff's records. "
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10414885/Browns-Malik-McDowell-arrested-public-exposure-beating-officer-Florida.html