Authorities issued a warrant Friday for the arrest of three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett, who is accused of injuring a paraplegic woman as he tried get onto the field at last year's Super Bowl to celebrate with his brother.
The Harris County district attorney's office said a grand jury indicted the 32-year-old Bennett, acquired earlier this month by the Philadelphia Eagles, on a felony count of injury to the elderly.
Bennett, who attended Alief High School, was a spectator at the game at NRG Stadium in Houston in February 2017 when he tried to get onto the field immediately afterward to see his brother, Martellus Bennett, a tight end for the Patriots at the time. Prosecutors allege he pushed through security personnel, including a 66-year-old woman in a wheelchair who was a stadium employee and who had told him to use a different entrance to access the field. Bennett is also accused of pushing two other people, including another woman, and ignoring a request by a police officer to stop as he made his way onto the field.
“It’s very offensive to me that a man whose supposed to be an example, professional althlete would think that it’s OK to treat people like this,” Acevedo said.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said Bennett allegedly told the people he had pushed, "You all must know who I am and I can own this (expletive). I'm going down to the field, whether you like it or not."
Acevedo called Bennett "morally bankrupt" for pushing the two women. Police said the disabled woman suffered a sprained shoulder when she was allegedly pushed by Bennett, hitting the back of her 800-pound, motorized wheelchair.
"Mr. Bennett may think that because he's an NFL player and some time passed ... he may have thought that, number one, rules don't apply to him, number two, he doesn't have to respect the dignity of a paraplegic woman who's trying to earn a living," Acevedo said at a news conference.
Bennett is accused of assaulting the employee moments before his post-Super Bowl LI interview with KPRC’s Randy McIlvoy.