Details In Police Report Of Everson Griffen’s Mental Breakdown Incident Are Absolutely Terrifying

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Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen is being evaluated at a hospital in the Minneapolis area following several bizarre incidents over the weekend where police had to be involved.

It all started when Griffen was sent home on Saturday from practice by Vikings’ executive director of player development Les Pico and was asked to “get his head straight” following several outbursts last week.

Via ESPN

The Minnesota Vikings informed Everson Griffen and his agent last week that the star defensive end would not be allowed back with the team until he underwent a mental health evaluation, according to a police incident report obtained by ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.

Les Pico, the Vikings’ executive director of player development, told police in Minnetrista, Minnesota, that team management sent Griffen and his agent the letter on Thursday, two days before an alleged incident involving Griffen at a Minneapolis hotel.

According to the incident report, Pico told police that Griffen had been “explosive, screaming and yelling” at the team facility and that he had been struggling in recent weeks. Vikings director of security Kim Klawiter told police that the team told Griffen not to play Sunday and to “go get his head straight.” When Griffen reported to the team facility for practice Saturday, he was sent home.

Pico then went to meet Griffen at his hotel on Saturday but the Vikings player abruptly when he got confused to why Pico wanted to speak to him in the first place.

Pico told police that he intended to meet with Griffen on Saturday at Hotel Ivy, where Griffen had been staying. Pico told police that upon meeting Griffen at the hotel, the defensive end forgot why he wanted to speak to him and did not want to talk to him anymore.

After Pico left the hotel, the police were called on Griffen when he threatened to “shoot someone” if they wouldn’t let him in his room.

Via KARE-11 News

The incident followed on the heels of the police response at The Hotel Ivy, where Minneapolis officers were called on reports that a man was threatening violence. A police report details how the subject of the call had checked into the hotel earlier that week, and had caused a disturbance each time he walked through the lobby. Hotel staff believed the behavior may be caused by alcohol or drugs, and reported on that date that the man threatened he would “shoot someone” if they didn’t let him in his room.

Squads responded, questioned the man and released him, as there was no indication the threat was credible. Klawiter confirmed to police in Minnetrista that Griffen was the person involved in the incident.

Griffin was eventually released at the hotel and the police proceeded to check in with Griffen’s wife who told them that her husband had not been acting normal lately and was struggling with “demons” in his head.

Officer Michael Kokesh managed to get in contact with Griffen’s wife, who had left the home with her children, and arranged to meet at a local business. Tiffany Griffen said Everson has not been acting normal lately, and on Sunday, Sept. 16, got up in the middle of the night and left their home as he often deals with “demons” in his head. She said he didn’t return until Wednesday, and was making little sense in their conversations but at one point told her “I want help.”

Tiffany Griffen said she didn’t know what to do and that she wants her husband to get help, according to the report. She said that Everson is not on any medication but should be and that he hasn’t slept in days and may be delusional because of the lack of sleep. His wife told police there hasn’t been any comments about wanting to harm himself or others.

After being interviewed by police, Tiffany called 9-1-1 because she believed her husband was trying to break into the home of one of his teammates.

After completing the interview and leaving the scene, the Minnetrista officer got a call from Tiffany Griffen saying Everson had entered the home of teammate Trae Waynes.

Waynes released a statement on Tuesday saying, “To clarify, there was no attempted break-in at our home and at no point did my family or I feel unsafe. We are friends with the Griffen family and we are here to support them in any way possible during these trying times.”

Tiffany called the police once again a few minutes later and said that Griffen had climbed into the truck of a complete stranger and was headed home to confront her.

A few minutes later, TIffany called again saying that Griffen had climbed into the truck of a complete stranger, and that they were headed towards the Griffen home. Once on scene, officers approached Griffen, who was yelling about people who were trying to kill him, God and “777.” Police were able to settle Griffen down and get him into an ambulance so he could be evaluated at a hospital.

After being detained and sent to the hospital Griffen jumped out of the ambulance before getting apprehended once again.

En route to the hospital, the ambulance encountered deer crossing the road. Griffen took that opportunity to jump out of the ambulance. Officers responded to the scene and found Griffen walking along the side of County Road 44 with his hands in the air. He told them he left the ambulance as he thought someone was going to shoot him, according to the report.

The team has since released a statement saying that they are providing support for Griffen and his family.

Jorge Alonso BroBible avatar
Brobible sports editor. Jorge is a Miami native and lifelong Heat fan. He has been covering the NBA, MLB and NFL professionally for almost 10 years, specializing in digital media.