Former NFL veteran Orson Charles has been charged with aggravated assault after a Friday night incident in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, according to WTSP. The longtime fullback and tight end, last seen with the Broncos in 2019, approached two off-duty police officers in a dispute over a parking spot, per the Tampa Police Department, and threatened to shoot the officers with a gun he was carrying before being detained early Saturday.
Charles was attempting to park at the intersection of 19th Street and 8th Avenue not long before midnight Friday when Tampa Police say another car beat him to the spot, per WTSP. Charles, 31, allegedly proceeded to approach the driver's side door of the other car, occupied by a pair of off-duty officers, and retrieved a gun from under his shirt, threatening to shoot them. The officers allegedly showed their badges to Charles, who continued to threaten them before the officers drove away.
Tampa Police say an off-duty Hillsborough County deputy monitored Charles after the incident once he was alerted of the dispute, following the former NFL veteran until he was taken into custody. Charles has since been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed firearm, per WTSP, both felony offenses in Florida.
Charles played eight seasons in the NFL, mostly as a fullback and tight end. A fourth-round draft pick out of Georgia in 2012, he spent the first two years of his career with the Bengals, then split time between six other teams from 2014-2019, most notably the Browns in 2018. That year Charles played 13 games and made two starts. He was also drafted by the XFL's DC Defenders in 2020 but did not sign with the team.
