Ex-Vikings D-lineman Scott charged with domestic assault

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman Darrion Scott was charged Tuesday with assault and accused of holding a plastic dry cleaning bag over the head of his 2-year-old son.

Darrion Scott is a free agent after spending the past four seasons with the Vikings. (Getty Images)

Scott was charged in Hennepin County Court with third-degree assault and domestic assault by strangulation, both felonies. He also was charged with endangerment of a child -- a gross misdemeanor -- for allegedly keeping a loaded, unsecured handgun in his unlocked nightstand, where a 2-year-old could have easy access to it.

According to the complaint, the boy's mother said she went to Scott's home on April 26 to pick the boy up when she heard the boy crying and found him with a dry cleaning bag over his head and Scott holding the bag tight around the boy's neck. Scott said he was playing with the child and wanted to see if the boy could get the bag off his head himself.

The boy's mother reported the incident to child protection and photographed red marks she saw on the boy's neck, the complaint said.

The mother also reported that Scott brought the boy to her home at the end of March or early April and asked to bathe him to get the boy ready for bed. The woman said Scott had never before bathed the boy in her home. Scott dressed the boy in long pajamas, and the next morning the woman noted that the boy had marks on his arm and ear that appeared to be burns, the complaint said.

The woman said she asked Scott what happened and he said he didn't know how the boy was injured. A doctor examined the boy and reported the marks appeared to be intentionally inflicted and were consistent with either a burn or impact injury, the complaint said.

In February or March, the complaint said, the boy came home from Scott's with three lumps on his forehead. According to the complaint, Scott told the boy's mother that he and the boy were doing a "victory dance" when the boy's head hit the wood frame of a sofa. Scott acknowledged throwing the child in the air to celebrate the boy's use of the toilet and that the boy fell and hit his head, the complaint said.

Scott was arrested last week after police searched his Eden Prairie town house. He remains in jail, with bond set at $100,000. His first court appearance is scheduled Wednesday.

A call to Scott's attorney, Bruce Rivers, at his Minneapolis office was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Scott's agent, Tim DiPiero, said he's been in touch with Scott's parents in West Virginia who are "naturally upset and appalled" by the charges.

"Anyone who knows Darrion knows him to be a big 'teddy bear' type of guy, easygoing and never loud or abusive. We believe this nightmare is a terrible mistake and that the child has not been abused, at least not by Darrion," DiPiero said in an e-mail.

Scott, 26, is a free agent after spending the past four seasons with the Vikings. He was placed on injured reserve after four games last season with a broken foot.