Police in Kenner say they arrested Junior Galette as well as another man after they got into a physical altercation with a woman over cab money at the New Orleans Saints pass rusher’s home on Monday morning.
Junior Galette’s mug shot
Officers responded to a disturbance at Galette’s home in the 4400 block of Rue De La Harbor at 8:52 a.m., Kenner police Lt. Brian McGregor said. Officers met with a 22-year-old woman who told the officers that Galette and his “cousin,” Terrance Banks, “jumped” her.
Police said the woman claimed to have been in a relationship with Galette in the past and previously lived with him at a home in New Orleans. Though they were no longer together in a relationship, she still “stayed” with, cooked for and cleaned for Galette, and she did whatever he needed her to do, she said, McGregor remarked.
Galette — who bought a home outside of New Orleans in the Jefferson Parish municipality of Kenner in September — claimed she was a dancer who went to his house on Sunday night and stayed until Monday morning with him and Banks, police said.
In the morning, the woman said, she woke Galette up and asked for cab money. Galette instructed her to instead ask Banks, of Newark, New Jersey, who was a teammate of Galette’s and defensive tackle on Temple University’s football team before Galette made the Saints as an undrafted rookie out of small school Stillman College in 2010.
The woman said Galette and Banks then refused to give her any money and told her to leave the house. An argument broke out, and Galette is accused of pushing the woman twice trying to get her out.
Terrance Banks’ mug shot
The woman said she fell. Both Galette, 26, and Banks, 27, got on her, she couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t fight them off, she said, according to police.
Then Banks picked her up and put her out the house, she said. She said she started dialing 911, but Banks took her phone and wouldn’t return it.
The woman said she grabbed a knife because she feared she’d be “jumped” again. Galette then began recording the incident with a phone, she said, according to police.
Police on Monday were working to obtain that recording Galette supposedly made.
The woman subsequently put the knife down, and Banks picked her up and took her outside, she said.
She then used her phone — which she had gotten back at that point — to call 911. She had scratches on the right side of her face, and her right earring had been pulled out from her ear, which was bloody, police said. She opted to seek medical treatment on her own instead of from first responders, police said.
When police informed Galette they were arresting him, he called at least one officer an insulting name, McGregor said. He also mentioned to an officer arresting him that being booked with domestic violence could negatively impact his contract with the Saints, but he otherwise cooperated, McGregor said after the news conference.
Galette was in the process of being booked Monday with simple battery related to domestic violence, and his bail was set at $600. Banks was being booked with simple battery, and his bail was set at $300.
Simple battery is a misdemeanor that can be punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1,000.
Under a personal conduct policy the NFL adopted in December, it’s possible Galette could be suspended six games in 2015, though Monday was a very early stage in the matter.
Immediately Monday, outside observers began speculating that the Saints could opt to cut Galette, a native of Haiti and a co-captain of the defense in 2014. But he’d still account for $16.2 million against the Saints’ salary cap in 2015 in that case, and that figure would actually be lower by about $750,000 if he was on the roster, The Advocate was told Monday.
That said, it could be that Galette would count less than anticipated against the salary cap if a suspension comes into play. In the case of suspensions, the NFL can sometimes void guaranteed money, depending on what was negotiated into a contract, agent and journalist Joel Corry said to The Advocate.
In his fifth year with the Saints, Galette led New Orleans’ defense in sacks (10). He had 12 sacks last year as New Orleans got to the divisional round of the playoffs and became the first Saints player in 10 years to reach double digits in that category in consecutive seasons. Despite that, this season, the Saints gave up the second-most yards in the NFL, finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs.
The Saints in early September gave Galette a four-year, $41.5 million deal that would extend his contract through 2019.
Monday was not the first time Galette’s been in trouble. He was dismissed from Temple after he said a Haitian cousin of his was arrested in connection to a theft of laptop computers from a dormitory while staying with Galette.
Online records also show Galette had been arrested previously while in Philadelphia, where Temple is. But none of that resulted in any conviction.
In a statement Monday, the Saints said they were aware of Galette’s situation and were in the middle of gathering information.
– Staff writer Nick Underhill contributed to this report. This post was updated since it was first published to add more details.