William Mahon is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 16.
Editors’ note: This story contains 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/.
Tennessee announced linebacker William Mohan has been suspended in the wake of his arrest on a charge of felony domestic aggravated assault after he was arrested early Sunday morning in south Knoxville.
Knoxville police officers reportedly arrived at the scene of a domestic disturbance when a woman stated that she had invited the linebacker to her apartment. When Mohan entered her residence, the woman realized he was drunk. In doing so, per ESPN, she immediately sought to bring Mohan to her room to avoid waking up her roommates.
However, Mohan reportedly became aggressive with the woman and tried to initiate sexual intercourse. When the woman refused Mohan’s sexual passes, court records stated that he used one hand to grab the woman’s face and his other hand to choke her by the throat and pulled her closer to him. The woman said she then screamed, pulled away from Mohan, grabbed an iron and told the linebacker he needed to leave.
Mohan reportedly refused to leave, prompting the woman to enter the kitchen to grab a knife. When the woman returned to the bedroom with the knife, she asked Mohan to leave once again. Instead of Mohan leaving, the woman told police that the linebacker grabbed her by the throat again and removed the knife from her hand, per ESPN. Moments later, one of the woman’s roommates entered the bedroom and told Mohan that he needed to leave.
After Mohan grabbed his possessions and exited the apartment, the woman let him back inside, where he crashed on the couch. The woman told police she began trying to find friends in Mohan’s phone to take him home.
A warrant was issued for Mohan’s arrest and police detained him the next day. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16. Per ESPN, a spokesperson from the Volunteers athletics department released a statement earlier Tuesday saying that the program was “aware of the recent arrest of football student-athlete William Mohan” and also stated the linebacker is suspended indefinitely from all team activities.