TCU player assaulted in locker room by teammate, suffers brain bleed: Investigators
A Texas Christian University football player was arrested last weekend after he allegedly assaulted one of his teammates in the locker room so severely that he suffered a brain bleed, according to an arrest warrant.
Jacob Fields, 21, turned himself into police on Sunday, was booked and later released that day on a $50,000 bond. He is being charged with aggravated assault against his teammate, Dozie Noble Ezukanma, during an alleged incident that happened in August, according to an arrest warrant issued by a Tarrant County, Texas, judge.
On Aug. 13, Ezukanma was in the locker room at the Walsh Physical Performance Complex in Fort Worth, Texas and was looking at his phone when Fields allegedly struck him, the arrest warrant said.
"The Victim believed Suspect hit him because he was playing better than him in practice the day before. Victim stated they had been going hard at each other since the start of camp," the arrest warrant said.
Another teammate was with Ezukanma when the alleged attack took place and told TCU police that he saw Fields punch Ezukanma in the forehead and then began kicking him in the head when Ezukanma was on the floor, according to the arrest warrant.
A team trainer, who also spoke with campus police, rushed to Ezukanma and took him to a doctor after the player complained of head pain, according to the arrest warrant.
He was ultimately rushed to an emergency room and given a CT scan, which showed Ezukanma had a brain bleed, the arrest warrant said.
The player was hospitalized for three days, according to the arrest warrant.
A TCU spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News that Fields was suspended from the team on Aug. 13 and dismissed two days later. He is no longer enrolled at the school, the spokesperson said.
The investigation is ongoing, according to the school.
"The health and safety of our students is TCU's highest priority," a TCU spokesman said in a statement.
"We will not comment further on the incident while the matter is under investigation and proceeding through the legal process," the spokesman added.
Phillip Miller, Fields' agent, posted a statement on X Sunday urging the public not to try the case on social media.
"Jacob has legal counsel, and we will allow the legal process to run its course. There will be time to speak. There will be a time for the facts. And there will be a time for the truth. Today, we will let the process work," he said in the post.
In a lengthy statement to ABC News, Coby DuBose, an attorney representing Fields, said: "We are aware of widespread reporting and an arrest warrant affidavit that describes Mr. Ezukanma's injuries as life threatening. However, we are aware of a social media video posted by the player's father on August 20, one week after the incident and on the same day Ezukanma spoke with police, where the father and son describe Ezukanma as having "barely a scratch' from the incident."
ABC News has not independently verified the social media post.
In the statement, Dubose criticized the school and accused it of withholding evidence.
"Jacob is entitled to the facts as they are, and these attempts to destroy evidence offend his rights," DuBose said in a statement. "I look forward to defending him and hope that my lengthy evidence preservation letter to TCU will be respected, and that no other evidence will be destroyed."
TCU did not immediately respond for comment about DuBose's claims.
The arrest warrant alleged that Fields sent Ezukanma a text message apologizing for the incident.
"I made an emotional decision cause how I felt played the last few practices," the alleged text read, according to the arrest warrant. "I'll pay every hospital bill and then some to make this right."
