Vikings’ Jeff Gladney Accused in Lawsuit of Assaulting Ex-GF for over 2 Hours

AP Photo/Duane Burleson

The ex-girlfriend of Minnesota Vikings cornerback Jeff Gladney filed a lawsuit this week accusing him of assaulting her in April.

USA Today‘s Brent Schrotenboer obtained a copy of the lawsuit in which the woman accused Gladney of “beating her for over two hours in April and then trying to bribe her into silence with a $1,000 necklace from Tiffany’s and a gift certificate to a spa.”

Schrotenboer noted that Gladney, who had a grand jury hearing scheduled Thursday, could be formally indicted after facing a felony assault charge.

Tasha Tsiaperas, community and media relations manager for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, told reporters this week that a decision on whether or not Gladney will be indicted is expected to happen Tuesday. 

The alleged incident is said to have occurred April 1 with the woman stating she “saw messages from Gladney to another woman for whom he bought $700 Louis Vuitton sunglasses.”

According to the lawsuit, after the disagreement escalated, the woman refused to let Gladney go through her phone and “that is when the assault and violence began.” 

Gladney is also accused of showing up at the woman’s house on July 25 “uninvited, and forced Plaintiff, against her will, to delete threads of text messages and screenshots of text messages,” the suit reads.

The Vikings defensive back surrendered to Dallas Police in April after an arrest warrant was issued for him on a felony family violence assault charge. He was released from custody after posting a $10,000 bond. 

“We are aware of Jeff’s arrest and are gathering additional information,” the Vikings said in a statement to NFL.com’s Grant Gordon in April. “We take this matter very seriously, as the reported allegations are extremely disturbing. At this time we will have no further comment.”

Gladney hasn’t been with the Vikings at training camp this week. The 24-year-old was a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft. He appeared in all 16 games (15 starts) as a rookie last year.