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Editor’s note: This story contains alleged accounts of domestic violence. If you or someone you know is a survivor of domestic abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or at https://www.thehotline.org/
An arrest warrant has been issued for former Seahawks star Earl Thomas after police said Thomas violated a court protective order by sending threatening messages to a woman about her and her children, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Court records show that a warrant signed on April 27 charges Thomas with a third-degree felony for allegedly violating a protective order from May 2021 that stated he could only communicate with the woman through a co-parenting phone app, according to the paper.
As of Friday afternoon, Thomas had not been booked into the Travis County jail.
The arrest warrant comes shortly after the 33-year-old Thomas told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on April 22 that he wants to pursue a return to the NFL. The seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro has not played in a game since the 2019 season, after he signed a four-year contract with the Ravens. He was released in August of 2020 after he punched Baltimore teammate Chuck Clark during an altercation at a training camp practice.
Trey Dolezal, who represents Thomas in his ongoing divorce, told the paper that the arrest warrant stems from Thomas reaching out to his wife to see their children. Nina Thomas filed for divorce from Earl Thomas in November 2020.
“They were consciously and collectively working together to see his kids,” Dolezal said. “I don’t really understand how he could be in violation by working together to visit with his children.”
However, the woman told police that Thomas recently began threatening her and her children via text, according to the Austin American-Statesman. In an April 18 message, he allegedly told her that he had just obtained two handguns.
Later in the day, he sent her another message in which he told her he will “kick [her] ass.”
According to the paper, police said that Thomas texted the woman the next day, saying, “I hope u in the car with him and the kids and yall drive off the road.” He followed up with another message: “Ima let my momma and my cousins poison they (their children) ass.”
Thomas was previously arrested in Travis County in February 2021 on for carrying a weapon unlawfully. He agreed to forfeit the weapon, and the case was dismissed the following year.
In May of 2020, Nina Thomas was arrested when Austin police said she pointed a loaded weapon at her husband’s head after breaking into a vacation home where he was staying. She was charged with first-degree felony burglary of a residence with intent to commit aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
