Former NFL Participant Accused of Staging Hate Crime To Make Insurance coverage Declare

Police in Georgia say they’ve arrested a former NFL participant after he allegedly staged a hate crime at a bakery he owned close to Atlanta wherein the burglars purportedly spray-painted racial slurs, swastikas and “MAGA” on the partitions of his enterprise.

Edawn Louis Coughman, 31, was arrested by Gwinett County Police on Thursday on costs of submitting a False Report of a Crime, Insurance coverage Fraud, and Concealing a License Plate. In accordance with an announcement from the division, somebody known as 911 to report a housebreaking at Coughman’s companies positioned in Lawrenceville, the Create and Bake Restaurant and Coughman’s Creamery. The 911 caller instructed police somebody was contained in the shops, damaging the companies and was driving a black Chevrolet Silverado with no license plate.

Officers have been dispatched to the situation the place they positioned a truck matching the witnesses’s description, leaving the procuring heart. The officers pulled the truck over and made contact with Coughman, who was driving the automobile. They famous that there have been a number of televisions contained in the mattress of the Silverado, nonetheless connected to the brackets with broken drywall. They realized Coughman was the proprietor of the companies and found the again door to one of many companies had been pried open. When officers went inside, they took pictures of graffiti phrases and symbols that had been spray-painted on the partitions, together with a number of racial slurs, a swastika and “MAGA,” for President Donald Trump’s slogan, “Make America Nice Once more.”

The vandalism was intensive as officers found damaged mirrors, reduce wires, and a broken video surveillance system. The spray paint was nonetheless contemporary, officers noticed on the time.

Coughman instructed the cops that he’d reported the injury and theft to his insurance coverage firm earlier within the day, however hadn’t known as 911 to report the crime. Nevertheless, investigators rapidly decided that the injury hadn’t been performed earlier that day and arrested Coughman. His truck was impounded and brought to police headquarters for processing. Police later discovered a yellow crow bar and cans of black spray paint in his automobile after acquiring a search warrant for the automobile.

“It seems as if Edawn conjured a premeditated plan to wreck his personal property, try and make it seem as a hate crime, file a declare along with his insurance coverage firm, and unload the undamaged home equipment and electronics,” the assertion from the division learn.

Coughman was launched on bond on Thursday.

Coughman was by no means an NFL star, and did not play in any common season video games. He was signed onto eight totally different groups at varied factors in his profession, together with the Washington Redskins, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Arizona Cardinals.

Picture: Gwinnet County Police