HAMILTON, Ohio -- A homegrown football star was jailed Sunday after police said he attacked a Butler County neighbor and exposing himself at a church.
J.K. Schaffer, a former Bengals linebacker, is charged with assault, breaking and entering and public indecency.
Schaffer, 26, was booked in the Butler County Jail Sunday evening. Attendees of Book of Acts Tabernacle in Hamilton spotted Schaffer lying down in the church's parking lot Sunday morning, according to church founder Lois Kidd.
Her nephew, Chad Pace, said he approached Schaffer, which caused him to stand up and expose himself. Pace said Schaffer also asked to borrow his car, but he refused.
"He looked very sweaty and red and very just aggravated, so I said, 'Are you alright?' He got down like a frog, put his rear on his heels and said, 'I’ve never been better,'" Pace said. "The state that this man was in was nothing I could ever see (as) something that just comes out of you out of an emotion."
Pace said he was worried for the safety of his son. He said he got out of the way while Schaffer continued into the building and started to jump on chairs and talk to employees.
"So then (Schaffer) went into the church and went into the sanctuary and he said, ‘I just beat up a guy really bad and I want to repent,'" Kidd said.
Pace called 911, and Schaffer was removed from the church when police arrived.
Schaffer attended and played football for La Salle High School and The University of Cincinnati. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012, but was released from the practice squad; he was picked up by the Bengals and signed to the practice squad that November. He was added to the roster in Sept. 2013, then waived in Aug. 2014.
"I'm very sad about this," Kidd said of the incident. "I feel sorry for him, and I just hope he will find his way."
