Smith, who played for the Jaguars from 2014 to 2018, has had previous run-ins with the law. In 2021, he was sentenced to three years of probation for child abuse.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Former Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith was arrested Thursday on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as revealed by court documents procured by First Coast News.
The arrest report indicates that on Thursday, July 3, Smith was at his home in Queens Harbor when a landscaper approached him, seemingly to offer his lawn care services, according to a witness.
Police said Smith told the man to get off his property, and that he had “three seconds to start running.” The man then turned around and started to walk away with his hands in the air.
The victim told police he was walking away when Smith began counting down from three, then doing something that made the victim run when he reached “one.” This action was redacted from the arrest report due to the incident still being under investigation.
According to the report, a witness told police she heard a loud “bang” and went to find her husband, who hadn’t heard the noise, but spoke with the landscaper prior to him approaching Smith’s house. The report also states police found a “discharged” handgun on Smith when he was arrested.
The report says when the landscaper asked the man about who lived at Smith’s house, and if they’d be interested in his services, the man said “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
The report states an initial officer responded to the scene and asked for additional officers, who arrived and approached the house, making an announcement for anyone inside to remove themselves.
Smith exited a car in the driveway and cooperated with officers, who took him into custody without incident.
Police referenced a video posted to Smith’s Instagram after the incident.
In the video, Smith is seen making comments about a man who approached him “from the side” of his house. Smith said the man “almost lost his life.”
“I have no will in me to hurt any man or any woman or any child,” Smith says in the video. “But if you come up on my property, or if you step out of line with me, man, your life will be taken.”
Smith went on to say people were making threats against his life, but did not specify who was making those threats.
Police charged Smith with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted, according to Florida law.
The arrest report states police found a handgun on Smith, as well as spent shell casings and other firearms and ammunition in his home.
Smith’s previous incident with the law
In 2020, Smith was arrested on charges of unlawful sexual contact with a teenage girl.
Smith, who was arrested May 1, 2020, and bonded out of jail the same day, waived his arraignment and filed a plea of not guilty, according to a filing obtained by First Coast News.
Smith’s arrest came four months after police raided his Queens Harbour home and confiscated his vehicle.
According to a warrant for his arrest in the case, Smith had sex on multiple occasions with an underage girl. The report says Smith knew the girl was underage and that he once gave her a $100 bill after sex. She told police she used the money to buy emergency contraception. The girl told police they had sex at his Queens Harbor mansion as well as in Smith’s Cadillac Escalade.
That vehicle was confiscated by police in November 2019. The warrant said the girl’s DNA was found in the back seat of the Escalade.
In 2021, he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of child abuse and was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Smith abruptly announced in an Instagram post in May 2019 that he was stepping away from football.
The Valdosta native was drafted by the Jaguars in the fifth round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of FSU, where he won a National Championship. He had 7.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, nine interceptions and three touchdowns in his five-year NFL career, all in Jacksonville.
