Ex-NFL Player Arrested & Charged For Staging Hate Crime

BY Erika Marie 2.0K Views
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Arrest
Police reportedly caught him red-handed.

For four seasons, Edawn Louis Coughman made the rounds in the NFL. From 2012 to 2016, the now-31-year-old was apart of six different teams: the Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and Houston Texans. For most of his career, Coughman's affiliation with many of those teams was during the offseason or as a member of the practice squad. Since 2016, the offensive tackle has been a free agent, and while he's been living a fairly quiet life, he's made headlines after becoming the target of a recent alleged hate crime.

Coughman owns Create & Bake Restaurant and Coughman's Creamery, an establishment nestled in a suburb of Atlanta. According to Gwinett County Police, they received a call last Tuesday from someone who indicated that a person in a black Chevrolet Silverado with no license plate broke into the bakery. When police arrived, they saw a number of spray-painted words and images inside including "MAGA," "n*gger," and a swastika. According to NBC News, the surveillance equipment was damaged, wires were cut, cushions in the seating area were sliced, mirrors were broken, and the spray paint was still wet.

Police immediately canvassed the area looking for the black vehicle described by the caller and located it not far from from the bakery. When they pulled the truck over, Coughman was behind the wheel and in the cab of the truck were "several televisions" that were "still attached to the brackets with damaged drywall," according to police.

"It appears as though Edawn conjured a premeditated plan to damage his own property, attempt to make it appear as a hate crime, file a claim with his insurance company, and sell off the undamaged appliances and electronics," said police. Coughman was arrested and charged with concealing a license plate, insurance fraud, and filing a false report of a crime. He's since bonded out of jail.


About The Author
Since 2019, Erika Marie has worked as a journalist for HotNewHipHop, covering music, film, television, art, fashion, politics, and all things regarding entertainment. With 20 years in the industry under her belt, Erika Marie moved from a writer on the graveyard shift at HNHH to becoming a Features Editor, highlighting long-form content and interviews with some of Hip Hop’s biggest stars. She has had the pleasure of sitting down with artists and personalities like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Salt ’N Pepa, Nick Cannon, Rah Digga, Rakim, Rapsody, Ari Lennox, Jacquees, Roxanne Shante, Yo-Yo, Sean Paul, Raven Symoné, Queen Naija, Ryan Destiny, DreamDoll, DaniLeigh, Sean Kingston, Reginae Carter, Jason Lee, Kamaiyah, Rome Flynn, Zonnique, Fantasia, and Just Blaze—just to name a few. In addition to one-on-one chats with influential public figures, Erika Marie also covers content connected to the culture. She’s attended and covered the BET Awards as well as private listening parties, the Rolling Loud festival, and other events that emphasize established and rising talents. Detroit-born and Long Beach (CA)-raised, Erika Marie has eclectic music taste that often helps direct the interests she focuses on here at HNHH. She finds it necessary to report on cultural conversations with respect and honor those on the mic and the hardworking teams that help get them there. Moreover, as an advocate for women, Erika Marie pays particular attention to the impact of femcees. She sits down with rising rappers for HNHH—like Big Jade, Kali, Rubi Rose, Armani Caesar, Amy Luciani, and Omerettà—to gain their perspectives on a fast-paced industry.