SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane police report is giving new insight into the domestic violence arrest of former Washington State University quarterback and Super Bowl XXVI Most Valuable Player, Mark Rypien.
Rypien is charged with fourth degree assault-domestic violence. He pleaded not guilty in the case on July 1 and was released from jail on his own recognizance.
According to a police report filed on June 30, Rypien told an officer he hit his wife because she was covering his face during an argument while he was driving.
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Police were called to the intersection of Garland Street and Maple Street around 5:40 p.m. on June 30. According to the report, the officer found Rypien’s wife lying in the lawn of a bank, curled up and holding her stomach.
The officer was a little confused about what was going on when he arrived at the scene, according to the report. He explained to a witness that he was looking for a man in a black Mazda who reportedly hit a woman, the report said.
Rypien replied, “That was me,” documents said.
According to the report, the officer asked Rypien if he hit the woman and he said, “Yes I did.”
When the officer asked him why, Rypien said, “Because she was covering my face up while I was driving and I was scared,” the report said.
The report said Rypien told officers his wife also hit him in the head with a cell phone and poured water on him after taking the keys out of the ignition while he was driving.
The officer spoke to Rypien’s wife who said, “If you have to do something legal here, I’m going to have to say it was on me and I was sick,” the report stated.
The report said Rypien’s wife continued to refuse to tell the officer what happened and Rypien told her to “tell the truth.”
Rypien’s wife later told the officer they were arguing but she could not remember what it was about, the report said. The officer noted that she did not have any visible injuries or marks.
She refused medical treatment but said she was sick to her stomach because of something she ate, according to the report.
The officer wrote in the report that she continued to ask him, “What do I have to say so that you arrest me and not him?”
Washington state law mandates that police make an arrest when responding to a domestic violence call if they have probable cause to believe that a domestic assault occurred.
Rypien went to Shadle Park High School before attending WSU. He was selected in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins.
He won a Super Bowl with Redkins in 1988 before going on to win another Super Bowl and the MVP title in 1992.