Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper will be arraigned on Aug. 31 after appearing virtually Friday for a hearing in a Douglas County courtroom.
Cooper, 28, faces a felony charge of second-degree assault by strangulation and three misdemeanors, including violating a protection order, following two arrests in June.
Cooper was initially arrested following an incident with his girlfriend at his Parker apartment on June 4. The felony second-degree assault by strangulation charge was added by the district attorney’s office following a forensic examination of Cooper’s girlfriend by a nurse at Anschutz Medical Center in Aurora. The nurse concluded that Cooper’s girlfriend sustained “strangulation with hypoxia and traumatic brain injury,” and suffered “substantial risk of death.”
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Cooper was arrested again on June 12 on charges of harassment and violating a protection order. Cooper was excused from Broncos minicamp in June and his status with the team remains unresolved. Broncos players report to training camp on July 28, open practice on July 31 and have preseason games scheduled for Aug. 14, 21 and 28.
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Denver opens the NFL season on Sept. 14 against the Chiefs in Kansas City.
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