New Orleans Saints' wide receiver Michael Thomas arrested on battery, criminal mischief charges

NFL standout Michael Thomas, a wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints, was arrested Friday evening on charges of simple battery and criminal mischief, as ESPN.com reports.

Taken into custody by Kenner, Louisiana police around 7 p.m. that evening, he was reportedly released from the local lockup around 10 p.m.

Neighborhood altercation escalates

According to a statement issued by the Kenner Police Department, the trouble for Thomas began when he initiated an encounter with a construction worker assigned to a home site in the football player's neighborhood.

A statement taken from the victim alleged that Thomas started yelling at him and voicing displeasure about a vehicle that was parked in front of his home.

Thomas was accused of threatening to harm the construction worker, which prompted the worker to begin recording the exchange.

Apparently enraged that he was being recorded, Thomas was said to have taken a brick and thrown it through the truck's windshield before approaching the worker and knocking the phone out of his hands.

According to the victim, tensions between Thomas and construction workers in the neighborhood had been rising for some time due to the presence of their vehicles in front of his property.

Uneventful arrest

Kenner Police further noted that Thomas was taken into custody without incident and was cooperative throughout the investigative process.

After being charged with the two aforementioned counts of simple battery and criminal mischief, Thomas was booked into the jail and released soon after.

Given that the charges lodged against Thomas are misdemeanor counts, the matter will be handled in Kenner's Mayor's Court, as the police department's press release stated.

Saints Wire noted that under Louisiana law, the charge of simple battery brings a potential $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail upon conviction, while the criminal mischief count has a potential fine of $500 and/or the same term of incarceration if a defendant is found guilty.

Neither count has a mandatory minimum sanction attached to it, so, while surely an embarrassing episode for Thomas and the Saints organization, it does not seem likely that any overly severe penalties will result from this unfortunate -- and avoidable -- incident.