Ex-NFLer allegedly trashed his 2 businesses to make it look like a hate crime

Mugshot and wall 

Atlanta -- Former NFL player Edawn Coughman, 31, of Buford, was arrested Thursday on charges of falsely reporting a burglary, insurance fraud and concealing a license plate. He was later bonded out of jail, police said.

Coughman is accused of trashing his own restaurant and ice cream shop he also owns near Atlanta. But worse, it seems that he made it look like a hate crime.

Police from Gwinnett County found the n word, "monkey," "MAGA" [Jussie Smollett style] and swastikas scrawled on the walls and booths of both businesses, Create & Bake Pizza and Coughman's Creamery in Lawrenceville.

Coughman was signed to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad in 2012 out of Shaw University and then spent parts of the following season with the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. He was then claimed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014 and signed by the Washington Redskins later that season.

An officer responded Wednesday night to a 911 call reporting that a person was damaging the restaurant and ice cream shop and making a getaway in a truck without a license plate. The restaurant's rear door showed signs of a break-in.

Police pulled over the truck and found Coughman behind the wheel and learned he was the owner of the damaged businesses, according to the news release. In the truck were several TVs that appeared to have been ripped from a wall.

The news release quoted the Jussie Smollett wannabe as informing the officers that he had noticed the damage earlier in the day and called his insurance company to report it but not 911.

"It's possible he was trying to stage this as a hate crime," Cpl. Michele Pihera told the Daily Post. "We don't know if he was trying to get attention for this. What we do know is, if that witness had not called us and if those officers had not responded as quickly as they did, we would probably be sitting here talking about a completely different crime in which Mr. Coughman would be trying to say he's a victim."

Like Smollett, you will not find Coughman at a Mensa meeting.

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