Ex-NFL player Damon Arnette indicted in Nevada in Vegas Strip hotel valet gun case

Updated May. 17, 2023 7:15 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former NFL cornerback Damon Arnette has been indicted in Nevada on felony charges alleging that he brandished a handgun during an argument with Las Vegas Strip casino valets in January 2022.

The former first-round draft pick of the Las Vegas Raiders is due for arraignment May 24 in state court in Las Vegas on assault with a weapon and concealed firearm charges. That could lead to prison time if he is convicted of displaying a .45-caliber handgun and threatening a man outside the Park MGM hotel, court records showed Tuesday.

Attorney Ross Goodman, the Las Vegas attorney representing Arnette, did not immediately respond to telephone and email messages about the indictment, which was filed May 12 in Clark County District Court.

Prosecutors last year dropped drug and weapon charges against Arnette, citing a lack of sufficient evidence in the case. But Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the case might be presented to a grand jury if investigators provided additional information. Arnette lives in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Arnette, now 22, played a total of 13 games for the Raiders before he was dropped by the team in November 2021 after social media video appeared to show him threatening someone’s life while brandishing multiple guns. He was not charged with a crime at that time.

His arrest two months later on suspicion of weapons and drug offenses after the altercation on the Strip prompted his release by the Kansas City Chiefs, who had signed him to a reserve contract.

Arnette played college football at Ohio State and was the second draft pick by the Raiders in 2020, behind Henry Ruggs.

Ruggs was dropped by the Raiders in November 2021 and pleaded guilty last week in Las Vegas to driving his sports car drunk at speeds up to 156 mph (251 kph) on a city street before causing a fiery crash that killed a woman and her dog. Ruggs is expected to be sentenced Aug. 9 to three to 10 years in state prison under terms of his plea deal with prosecutors.