Charlie Rogers arrest: Listen to 911 call about Samurai sword-wielding ex-NFL player
Stephen Edelson, Asbury Park Press Published 5:55 a.m. ET Nov. 21, 2018 | Updated 10:34 a.m. ET Nov. 21, 2018
Matawan native and former NFL player Charlie Rogers was arrested for swinging a Samurai sword and threatening a man and his children. Here's the 911 call Ryan Ross and Stephen Edelson, Asbury Park Press
(Photo: FILE PHOTO)
As details emerge from the latest incident involving former NFL player John E. "Charlie" Rogers, Jr., which resulted in last week's arrest of the former local football star and coach, they paint a picture of a 42-year-old who appears to be a growing danger to the community.
According to the arrest report by the Aberdeen Police, Rogers allegedly "threatened to kill the victim and his children" while swinging a Samurai sword in the parking lot of the Matawan-Aberdeen Middle School during a youth basketball event on Oct. 5.
Last week, Rogers, who starred at Matawan Regional High School and played five seasons in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills, was charged with possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, possession of a weapon, terroristic threats and stalking.
The documents and 911 call are public records obtained by the Asbury Park Press through an Open Public Records Act request.
Rogers did not respond to a request for comment by the Asbury Park Press.
In the call made to Aberdeen Police at 7:55 p.m. on Oct. 5, which you can hear in its entirety by playing the video at the top of this story, the caller provides information about the situation that arose in the school’s rear parking lot:
Caller: "Yes, how you doing? Um, Charlie Rogers is out here riding around, with a Samurai sword in his car, drunk."
Dispatcher: "OK."
Caller: "I mean, he’s going to end up hurting somebody. He's literally swinging the sword around, trying to hit this one guy…"
Complaint: State of New Jersey vs Charlie Rogers by asburyweb on Scribd
By the time the first officers arrived at the school at 8:06 p.m., Rogers had already fled the scene in a 2003 Chevrolet Impala.
The arrest report, which lists Rogers as unemployed, states "the defendant did threaten to kill the victim and his children with the purpose to put him in imminent fear of death under circumstances reasonably causing said victim to believe the immediacy of the threat the likelihood that it would be carried out."
The original complaint was issued on Nov. 2, with Rogers turning himself in to the Aberdeen Police some 10 days later, on Nov. 12. He was released from the Monmouth County Correctional Institution a day later. No date has been set for a hearing in Freehold.
The arrest is just the latest incident involving the 42-year-old.
On Aug. 25, Rogers, who at the time was coaching with Matawan American Youth Football, left a profanity-laden voicemail for the parent of an 11-year-old player on another team, threatening to send his players after the child during an upcoming game.
You can hear the voicemail by playing the video below.
WARNING: Video contains graphic language. Youth coach Charlie Rogers threatens an 11 year old player in a profanity laced voicemail to a parent Stephen Edelson and Ryan Ross, Asbury Park Press
After USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey posted the voicemail on Sept. 6, Rogers was fired from his job as the offensive coordinator at St. John Vianney High School. He was also suspended indefinitely by Jersey Shore American Youth Football, banning him from volunteering, coaching or serving as a board member anywhere within AYF in New Jersey.
In the voicemail to the parent of a player who left Matawan AYF to play for the East Brunswick-based Saint Bart's Buffalos, Rogers declares at one point, "We are going to blitz every (expletive) play until your guy comes out of the game."
Charle Rogers Arrest Report by asburyweb on Scribd
Prior to being hired earlier this year to serve as offensive coordinator at St. John Vianney under head coach Joe Martucci, who Rogers played for at Matawan Regional High School, Rogers served as an assistant coach at Matawan under Martucci from 2008 to 2011.
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