National Football League

Steelers LBs coach Joey Porter arrested after altercation with police

Published Jan. 9, 2017 11:09 a.m. ET

Dan Graf

The Pittsburgh Steelers got an easy playoff win against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon, but one of their assistant coaches – longtime linebacker Joey Porter – was arrested Sunday night following an altercation with a police officer, according to court documents. He's been charged with assault, resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct and was released Monday morning on $25,000 bail.

Porter was involved in an argument with a doorman at a South Side bar. Police attempted to intervene but Porter struggled with the officer. According to the criminal complaint filed on Monday morning, Porter grabbed the doorman by his arms, "lifting him up off the ground."

The doorman reportedly told Porter this: "Last time you were here, you threatened to kill me. You need to leave. You are not getting in."

Officer Paul Abel attempted to separate the two after asking Porter multiple times what was going on. Porter did not respond to the officer's questions.

The criminal complaint states that Porter grasped the officer's wrists and would not let them go. Officer Abel said this in the report: "Porter informed me that he was not touching me, as he was still holding my wrists."

Officer Abel said he was not injured during the incident, nor was the doorman. He did say that he felt as though Porter was going to cause him harm, though.

"I believed that [Mr. Porter] was going to cause me serious injury."

The Steelers issued this statement on Sunday night:

https://twitter.com/ByChrisMueller/status/818298848225398785

Porter, 39, played the first eight years of his 13-year NFL career with the Steelers. He last played in the 2011 season and has been an assistant coach with the Steelers since 2014. He was promoted to linebackers coach in 2015.

The Steelers will visit the Kansas City Chiefs in next weekend's Divisional round of the playoffs.