Welcome to Arrest Stories. A former NFL superstar who once walked away from fourteen point five million dollars was taken into custody at an Ohio shopping mall over a child support warrant. Heres what may have happened.
On Sunday, July nineteenth, twenty twenty six, thirty four year old former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell was arrested at the Belden Village Mall in Canton, Ohio, by the Jackson Township Police Department. Bell had been at the mall for a meet-and-greet with fans when officers took him into custody. Body camera footage viewed by the Canton Repository showed that Bell was unaware of the arrest warrant at the time of his arrest.
Stark County records described the hold as a courtesy hold for another agency, meaning Ohio authorities were detaining Bell on behalf of Michigan. Bell faces three felony charges of failing to pay child support in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to Kent County, Michigan records obtained by the Canton Repository, Bell owed one hundred twelve thousand five hundred twenty two dollars and eighty nine cents as of February third, twenty twenty six. The Michigan Attorney General's Office became involved due to the amount at issue in the case. Bell currently resides in Van Nuys, California, while the child for whom payments are directed lives in Michigan.
Bell's attorney, Thomas Shaffer, spoke to the Canton Repository and TMZ, arguing that the payments are being calculated unfairly. Shaffer stated, six months ago, he cashed in an NFL pension to pay fifty thousand dollars in child support for that child. His guidelines are still inaccurately being deemed based on his NFL salary and his professional boxing career. This is a revolving door because he pays a number that doesn't reflect his true income. The issue will never end. The court needs to reflect his true income.
Shaffer further told TMZ that the support guidelines by law are based on current income, not a previous NFL salary, and that computing these guidelines on inaccurate information is unfair. Bell has not played in an NFL game since the twenty twenty one season. Bell collected forty four point eight million dollars in NFL salary between twenty thirteen and twenty twenty one.
Shaffer confirmed Bell intends to explain his situation to a judge. Separately, in twenty twenty five, a jury awarded twenty five million dollars to a cousin who filed a civil sexual assault lawsuit against Bell. Bell has denied those allegations and his attorneys contend he was never properly served.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.