Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel dragged his ex-girlfriend Colleen Crowley by the hair, smacked her hard enough to cause her to losing hearing in one ear and threatened to kill her and himself late last month, according to an affidavit Crowley filed in Fort Worth seeking a protective order against the former A&M star.
Late last week, the Dallas Police Department received a report from Fort Worth police about a sustained domestic assault allegedly committed by Manziel across DFW on January 29 and 30. Crowley had filed a request for a protective order from Manziel in Tarrant County. Initially, on Thursday, DPD said it had looked into the matter, but decided to close the case on the incident:
"The Dallas Police Department has conducted the appropriate investigative follow-up to the report forwarded to us by the Ft. Worth Police Department regarding an alleged incident involving Johnny Manziel. Investigative efforts to date have not resulted in the filing of a criminal complaint and the incident is determined to be closed. No further statement is expected at this time."On Friday, however, the department announced that it had received a criminal complaint from Crowley:
Following yesterday’s release, today the Dallas Police Department received a complaint of a domestic violence assault that occurred in Dallas on January 30, 2016. A criminal investigation into the incident, in which Johnathan Manziel is the listed suspect, has been initiated. Detectives will thoroughly investigate the case to determine what criminal charges, if any, will be filed and victim services will be offered.Monday, media outlets were given a copy of the affidavit filed in Tarrant County by Crowley in hopes of securing the protective order. The details provided by Crowley paint a monstrous picture of Manziel.
As there are many emotional factors involved, it is not uncommon for a victim of domestic violence to question or delay reporting an assault. This is an ongoing investigation and updates will be made as information becomes available.
According to Crowley, she went out in Uptown with a group of friends on January 29. After a couple of Uber-assisted stops, she ended up in Manziel's suite at the Hotel Zaza, where she expected to spend the night. Her friends left the hotel to do their own thing, Crowley says.
"We started having a discussion about things I had heard earlier in the week about him being with a girl who had caused us problems in the past. I told Respondent that if l was going to spend the night, it would be on the couch. It was then that [Manziel] threw me on the bed. He claimed it was "playfully," but it frightened me and I took it seriously. I decided I wanted leave the hotel but when I got to his room door and tried to open it, he restrained me from leaving and I tried to fight him off. I became very scared that he was going to hurt me."Crowley says Manziel then dragged her to her car, which was sitting in front of the Concrete Cowboy, a bar located near Hotel Zaza.
"Although I did not want him to take me to my car, he would not take 'no' for an answer. When we got to the valet, I was crying and begged the valet, 'Please don't let him take me. I'm scared for my life!' The valet replied, 'I don't know what to do' and proceeded to let [Manziel] literally throw me in the front passenger seat of his car and he went around and got in the driver's seat."After leaving the valet stand, Crowley says she jumped out of the car and hid behind some bushes on McKinney Avenue. Manziel found her quickly, she says.
"He grabbed me by my hair and threw me back into the car and got back in himself. He hit me with his open hand on my left ear for jumping out of the car. I realized immediately that I could not hear out of that ear, and I still cannot today, two days later. Fearful for my life, I hit [Manziel] several times, hoping I could back out of the car. Respondent threw me off of him and I hit my head on the car window and I fell into the passenger floorboard. Still fearful for my life, I stayed in the floorboard motionless until Respondent pulled me back onto the seat. He was telling me to "Stop!" and wouldn't let me have my phone."Crowley says Manziel then drove the two to her apartment in Fort Worth.
"During the drive to Fort Worth, I was crying and telling him, 'I hate you! Just leave me alone! I hate you!' Respondent then told me he was going to drop me off, take my car and go kill himself. I thought maybe he was on drugs or having a psychotic break so to keep him calm I began telling him, 'I love you. We can figure this out, we can talk.' Respondent started laughing at this and I became really scared. I started crying even more and he told me, 'Shut up or I'll kill us both!' Then I started begging him not to kill me and he immediately responded, 'I would never kill you. You don't deserve that. I would only kill myself!' He was not making sense.Fort Worth Police came to Crowley's apartment and eventually called in a helicopter to search for Manziel when he didn't answer his phone — Crowley told police she was worried for his safety. Manziel was eventually found, but after it was determined that the potential assault took place in Dallas, Manziel was not arrested. A judge granted Crowley's request for a protective order, barring him from seeing Crowley until February 3, 2018. If he violates the terms of the order he'll be subject to up to a year in jail and $4,000 in fines.
"We made it to my apartment in Fort Worth where the altercation continued, although it was more verbal than physical. I kept asking [Manziel] for my phone repeatedly and he said I wasn't going to be talking to anyone right then and refused to give it to me. He then smashed my phone onto the tile in my apartment entry. With my phone not working, I resorted to my computer which was on the floor behind a large overstuffed chair. I was trying to FaceTime my parents just to get any help I could. Respondent had been outside pacing and when he came back in the apartment he asked me if I had FaceTimed my parents. I told him, ''No,' and he said I had better not be lying to him. He went over to the computer and saw that I actually had tried to FaceTime my parents and I became extremely scared as to what he might do. I was in my kitchen so out of fear for my life, I pulled a knife out of my knife block and advanced toward him. He ran out of the apartment. I threw the knife down and followed behind him to make sure he had gone. I saw that he was still in the parking lot so I began banging on my neighbor's door and the upstairs neighbor came out asking if I needed help. I screamed, 'Yes!' and they came downstairs. Before they could make it down however, [Manziel] had taken off on foot."
