A former NFL player is claiming his girlfriend staged a video of him brutally attacking her, by provoking him into it, because she wanted cash from him.
Zac Stacy, a former Jets running back, was arrested in Orlando, Florida after allegedly attacking his girlfriend, Stacy Evans, in front of their infant son on November 13.
Shocking home surveillance footage released after the alleged assault showed Stacy, 30, repeatedly punching Evans and tossing her into the TV and their four-month-old son’s bouncy seat as she begged for him to stop.
An arrest warrant for Stacy describes how he threw Evans around ‘like a rag doll’ in the November 13 incident at Evans’s Oakland, Florida, home.
He was charged with aggravated battery and criminal mischief in the alleged assault, and faces 20 years in prison.
But in arrest footage obtained by TMZ, Stacy told officers with the Orlando Police Department Evans staged the assault because he denied her romantically.
Zac Stacy, a former Jets running back, was arrested last month for allegedly attacking his girlfriend, Stacy Evans, in front of their infant son on November 13. Upon his arrest, he reportedly told police officers Evans staged the attack because he denied her romantically
Home surveillance footage shows Zac Stacy, 30, attacking the mother of his child in front of their five-month-old son on November 13
‘It’s just a case of bitterness man,’ he told the police in the video, according to TMZ. ‘That’s why she did this – the whole assault thing, she staged it. She set me up.
‘The whole thing was staged,’ he continued. ‘All she’s trying to do is get money out of me. She got a reaction out of me.’
He noted that he had just gotten out of rehab for anxiety and depression, and found out she had an affair with his financial advisor, but returned to her house to visit his son and support Evans as a parent.
‘She knew I was down, she knew I was going through anxiety and depression. She knew I was trying to close this gap that’s between me and my son, and she’s just upset that she got caught, and she’s upset I’m not taking care of him like she expected,’ she said.
‘And now she took it this far.’
But, he admitted his actions were ‘f***** up,’ noting: ‘I don’t know what man – how any man could have handled that situation.’
Evans denied the claims in a video statement on Monday, saying: ‘I don’t know how you can stage getting you ass beat on multiple occasions.
‘This is what abusers do,’ she said. ‘They will make you seem like you’re the crazy one, and that they’re the victim.’
She said she also had an issue with the way the cops spoke with Stacy after his arrest, saying it appeared the police were ‘consoling’ him during the arrest, as they spoke about his football career and said it was ‘inevitable’ that he would face harassment claims.
‘Everything about this makes me uncomfortable,’ Evans said.
The incident began when the former football player visited his son at Evan’s house at around 2pm. But once there, he flew into a jealous rage and attacked his ex, punching her multiple times in the head before dragging her from the couch and throwing her into the TV, which then fell on her
She can be heard begging for Stacy to stop in the disturbing video
Evans had released the horrifying video to social media following Stacy’s arrest, and claimed in an Instagram story that Stacy’s friends were hiding him following the incident.
It allegedly began when the former football player visited his son at Evans’ house at around 2pm on November 13. But once there, he allegedly flew into a jealous rage and attacked his her, punching her multiple times in the head before dragging her from the couch and throwing her into the TV, which then fell on her.
Evans later claimed in a restraining order that Stacy had been abusing her since she was pregnant with her son, saying that the attacks were escalating and that ‘he will kill me.’
A Freedom of Information request filed by The Sun revealed that there had been a series of domestic disturbance calls that police responded to starting in August.
On August 16, it is reported that Stacy and Evans had an argument over rent money, which Stacy was demanding Evans pay him back.
‘When Stacy exited the house and throughout the course of being on scene, Stacy kept menacingly staring while she cried,’ the police report claimed.
However there were no reports of physical violence from either Stacy or Evans in the incident.
But then on September 26, Evans called police again, claiming that Stacy had smacked her with a stack of mail across her face while she was holding their baby.
When officers arrived, Evans was found ’emotionally distraught with tears in her eyes while holding her baby.’
Photos from the alleged incident in August show cuts and bruises all over her body after what she says was an argument over rent money.
‘He physically assaulted me several times because he wanted the money back he gave me for our rent,’ she wrote in the restraining order application.
‘He punched my legs, slapped me, picked me up by my arms, and threw me into my window, which broke. I had glass in my feet that I removed myself,’ Evans continued.
Stacy was charged with with aggravated battery and criminal mischief in the alleged assault, and faces 20 years in prison. He was released on a $10,000 bond
Evans denied the claims she staged the assault in a video statement on Monday
Stacy, who played three seasons in the NFL, two for the Rams – before the franchise moved to Los Angeles – and one for the New York Jets, was arrested for the more recent incident upon arriving at Orlando International Airport on an inbound flight from Nashville on November 21.
Oakland police had said in a previous statement before his arrest that he flew from Nashville to Orlando ‘with the intention of turning himself in.’
He was released from Orange County Jail on a $10,000 bond, and has been ordered to not have any contact with Evans.