DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – Newly released 911 calls describe the shock in Deerfield Beach on Monday afternoon as a man police say is Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Malik McDowell was spotted walking naked near a children’s learning center.
“We currently have an African American man naked walking the premise,” one caller reported.
“Yeah, there’s a naked man in front of our office building,” another said.
Cell phone video then showed the 6-foot-6, 290-pound McDowell rushing toward a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy and punching him in the face.
McDowell, 25, was subdued with a stun gun, according to an arrest report, and now faces charges of aggravated battery of an officer, resisting an officer with violence and exposing his sexual organs in public.
Moments before deputies responded, staff members at The Learning Experience, a facility for children 6 months to 6 years old on Hillsboro Technology Drive, called 911 about the naked man on their campus.
“You’re gonna go into lockdown. You’re gonna have to take these kids into the bathroom, OK?” a 911 operator said.
At McDowell’s bond hearing Tuesday, a prosecutor described how a deputy was left with bruising and swelling to his face and pain walking after the physical encounter with the pro football player.
McDowell’s attorney told a judge that “somebody may have slipped him something or given him something that he wasn’t aware of, which explains some of this bizarre behavior.”
Ty Jenkins, the witness who shot the cell phone video that showed the attack, said he was driving near the learning center when he tried to process what exactly he was seeing.
“He tried going into the school,” Jenkins told Local 10 News. “I said, ‘That dude is naked.’”
McDowell’s criminal record includes an incident from 2019 when he was charged with DUI and getting into a scuffle with police in his native Michigan.
Because of those legal troubles and an ATV accident, this past season was McDowell’s first playing in the NFL after being drafted in the second round in 2017. He played in 15 games (14 starts) for Cleveland this year, finishing with 19 solo tackles and three sacks.
“We are aware of the very concerning incident and arrest involving Malik McDowell and are in the process of gathering more information,” the Browns said in a statement Tuesday. “We understand the severity of this matter and our thoughts are for the well-being of all involved. We will have no further comment at this time.”
The NFL said they are aware of the arrest and are in the process of gathering more information.
McDowell had no comment Tuesday night after bonding out of the Broward County jail in Fort Lauderdale.
Local 10 News reached out to McDowell’s attorney who also declined comment.