Richard Sherman awaits court date after suspicion of burglary, domestic violence arrest
Former Seahawks All-Pro and franchise icon Richard Sherman is in King County Jail on suspicion of burglary with a domestic violence component.
Records from the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle show Redmond police officers booked the free-agent cornerback and Seahawks Super Bowl winner into King County jail at 6:08 a.m. Wednesday following his arrest on suspicion of possible burglary domestic violence. That is a class B felony charge under the Revised Code of Washington.
Sherman was denied bail, according to jail records. Bail amounts are typically set at a first appearance hearing, which is likely to be Thursday.
A spokesman for the King County prosecuting attorney’s office told The News Tribune people booked into jail after midnight are typically on the court calendar for a first appearance the following day at 2:30 p.m. in King County Jail courtroom No. 1. That would be Thursday afternoon, in Sherman’s case.
The King County jail cites RCW 9A.52.052 Residential Burglary in its booking record for Sherman.
Washington state law defines: “(1) A person is guilty of residential burglary if, with intent to commit a crime against a person or property therein, the person enters or remains unlawfully in a dwelling other than a vehicle.
“(2) Residential burglary is a class B felony. In establishing sentencing guidelines and disposition standards, residential burglary is to be considered a more serious offense than second degree burglary.”
Again, Sherman has not been charged.
The spokesman for the King County prosecutor, Director of Communications Casey McNerthney, said what is listed as a “charge” on county jail records is the booking reason Redmond police gave.
A King County judge is expected to determine during Sherman’s first court appearance Thursday afternoon whether there was probable cause for the arrest. The judge could then can set a bail amount for Sherman’s release, pending subsequent hearings and steps in the case.
The Washington State Patrol is investigating Sherman for possible additional, misdemeanor charges of hit and run and impaired driving.
Just after 1 a.m. Wednesday, a State Patrol trooper came to a vehicle that had crashed into a barrier on eastbound state Highway 520 near the 148th Avenue Northeast exit in Redmond. Trooper Rick Johnson told The News Tribune it was a one-car accident. Johnson said arriving trooper found the vehicle with damage so-far unspecified, pending an incident report. The vehicle was found unoccupied and “either disabled or abandoned” nearby, off the exit ramp, Johnson said.
The arriving state trooper ran the license plates on the car and found it was registered to a Richard Sherman. That led troopers to an address in Redmond. There, Washington State Patrol troopers assisted Redmond Police officers in arresting a man who showed indications of impairment.
Those troopers’ observations led them to seek a warrant to draw blood from the man at the Redmond address. A judge granted that warrant to collect a blood sample early Wednesday.
In 2018, Sherman married long-time girlfriend Ashley Moss. They have two children together. Baby boy Rayden was born to Moss four days after Sherman played in Seattle’s final-play Super Bowl loss to New England in February 2015.
He was asked later that year how fatherhood changed him.
“Well, I don’t get to keep my footballs anymore. He tries to take them and chew on them,” Sherman said in December 2015. “But other than that, you just try to make sure you don’t put anything on tape that your son’s going to come back and ask you about, or look at and laugh. Try your best not to get embarrassed.”
Sherman is a vice president in the NFL Players Association. The union confirmed and commented on Sherman’s arrest Wednesday.
“We were made aware of an arrest (Tuesday) night of one our player leaders for an alleged domestic violence incident and have activated our domestic violence crisis protocol for the protection and support of everyone involved,” the NFLPA posted on its Twitter account. “We will continue to monitor events closely as more facts are made available to us.”
Sherman, 33, is unsigned two weeks before NFL teams report for the start of training camp for the 2021 season.
He’s played the last three seasons for the San Francisco 49ers. They let his three-year, $39 million contract expire this winter. Sherman signed that deal in the spring of 2018 with San Francisco, near where he played in college for Stanford.
That was after Seattle released him rather than pay him $11 million for the 2018 season as he turned 30 years old and came back from a torn Achilles tendon.
He starred over eight seasons for Seattle. He had three All-Pro selections and played in two Super Bowls for the Seahawks as a charter member of their famed “Legion of Boom” secondary.
After he signed with San Francisco, Sherman had kept the home he lived in during his time with the Seahawks in the suburban King County city of Maple Valley. In 2019, days after his 49ers lost a game to the Seahawks, Sherman paid to restock the Maple Valley Food Bank.
Though Sherman is unsigned, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell have the authority to punish him for this incident, as they do any player under the league’s personal-conduct policy.
As he’s remained a free agent, there has been chatter around the league of Sherman perhaps re-signing with Seattle this summer.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in May the team and Sherman have “stayed in contact.” But Carroll downplayed the possibility of Sherman returning to play for Seattle.
The Seahawks used one of their team record-low three picks on a cornerback, Tre Brown, in the 2021 NFL draft.
“He’s out there. I know he’s thinking about it. He’s looking for an opportunity — and I saw where he said there were three or four teams that he’s considering, or whatever,” Carroll said of Sherman in May.
“So, we’ll see what happens. But, he’s been a great player and he’s still got some ball left in him, I’m sure.
“But at this point, we are going to clear through this day, figure out what happens with the ‘rooks’ coming up, and we’ll see where it sits later on.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 11:14 AM with the headline "Richard Sherman awaits court date after suspicion of burglary, domestic violence arrest."
