JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jacksonville Jaguar John Henderson head-butted his wife during an argument Saturday, according to a police report from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Henderson was arrested and charged with domestic battery. He bonded out of jail Sunday evening.
Henderson initially refused to come out of a room in his Deerwood home, but surrendered to police after about an hour, according to a police report.
Jail records show that Henderson was held for mental evaluation before he was taken to the Duval County Jail. According to court records online, Henderson's wife filed an injunction for protection order against Henderson in 2013. The injunction was dismissed less than a month later when neither of them showed up for the hearing.
According to a police report, Henderson assaulted his wife Saturday during an argument in their home. Henderson's wife told police that Henderson pushed over a dresser and that when they were face to face, he head-butted her on her forehead. She told police that Henderson then went into his office and barricaded himself inside.
"It's somewhat difficult. They have to try to talk to him, get him to come out, and they do that by reasoning with him," News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said. "They tried to reason with him to come out, and apparently it did work."
The victim had a small cut on her forehead when police arrived. They said her small children were present during the fight.
After she learned that Henderson would be arrested and held for mental evaluation, the victim refused to cooperate with police or sign any domestic violence papers, police said.
"It makes it somewhat difficult, because you really need their information in their testimony, but in domestic violence cases, they can go ahead and file charges, even if the victim refuses to," Smith said.
Another woman filed an incident report with JSO in 2005, saying Henderson kicked in the front door to the apartment he was leasing for her after she stopped accepting his calls.
She told investigators that he demanded sex and threw her across the room when she refused.
She filed the report a week after the alleged incident, telling officers that she didn't want to get Henderson in trouble but had since received threats from Henderson.
He was not charged in that incident.
Elle Siler, the CEO of Hubbard House, said Henderson's arrest may be a case in the public eye, but domestic violence is an issue that affects thousands of others in the city.
Stories like Henderson's are familiar to Siler. The facility helps thousands of victims every year, the vast majority of them women and children.
"We are seeing a lot of violence among professional athletes. We hear more about that, but it's actually happening in every segment of our society," said Siler.
Siler explained that intervention is key to stopping the cycle, especially when it involves children.
"Anybody who has lived with violence and hasn't gotten intervention, there's a higher risk of them repeating that violence," Siler said.
Siler said chances are that violence has occurred in the home before.
Warning signs include extreme jealousy and a need to control a partner's behavior. Siler also said an abuser has a tendency to blame the other person for what is wrong in the relationship.
Siler said it's important for anyone who suspects that domestic violence is happening to speak up, because holding abusers accountable is the way to protect victims.
"Once violence is entered into a relationship and there isn't intervention, that violence is going to be repeated. Some people think that if the couple is no longer (together), there's no longer a need to enter batterer's intervention. But that abuser has not learned another way to interact," she said.
Henderson is due back in court next month.
The statewide domestic violence hotline number is 800-500-1119. Callers are routed to the nearest shelter.