Larry Johnson: Former NFL Star Accused Of Choking Woman Proclaims His Innocence

Larry Johnson, the former NFL star accused of choking his girlfriend, has proclaimed his innocence and said he has evidence that can exonerate himself of the charges against him.

He was arrested early Friday morning in Las Vegas after an argument with a woman turned violent, and the woman involved claimed that Johnson strangled her until she was almost unconscious, TMZ.com reported.

Larry Johnson, who was charged with felony domestic violence for the incident, refutes that account. The former running back told TMZ.com that the woman refused to leave his hotel room after they finished a night of partying at Bank Nightclub. Johnson said that when he tried to get the woman, an old acquaintance, to leave the room, she began to slap and kick him.

When he finally did get her outside the room, Johnson said she tried to get back in and kick the door down. He also said the hotel’s surveillance camera should be able to back up his account of the events, especially after he said police seemed uninterested in getting his side of the story.

“I know people will try to pass judgement on me from my previous record but I didn’t do what I am being charged with,” Larry Johnson told TMZ.com.

As The Associated Press noted, Johnson has a long history of run-ins with the law. He was arrested several times during his nine-year NFL career. In 2009 he faced two separate charges of disturbing the peace, both for incidents involving women outside Kansas City nightclubs, and he ended up pleading guilty and receiving two years’ probation.

Larry Johnson had a few stellar seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs, and ended his career as a member of the Miami Dolphins in 2011.