EDMONTON — An Edmonton Eskimos football player who moonlights as a professional pugilist is one of three people facing charges after a man was allegedly attacked and forced into a car trunk west of the city.
Defensive tackle Adam Braidwood, who is known as “The Boogeyman” in pro fighting circles, is accused of aggravated assault and forcible confinement.
RCMP said they were called to a rural area west of Edmonton early Friday evening after someone saw a man being forced into a trunk by several people.
When officers found the car south of Stony Plain, they discovered a 20-year-old man with no shirt who appeared to have significant injuries to his arms and legs.
Three men were arrested at the scene.
Charged along with Braidwood are Shane Gerald Bergstrom, 25, of Norglenwold, Alta., and Taylor Joel Kurtz , 23, Edmonton.
They are to appear in Stony Plain provincial court Wednesday.
Eskimo general manager Eric Tillman released a brief statement saying that the team was notified by police of the charges and would not be commenting while the case is before the courts.
The 6-foot-4, 274 pounder is a native of Delta, B.C., and played his college football at Washington State.
He has been with the Eskimos since 2006 and was the team’s nominee for rookie of the year.
His best year was in 2007 when he started 16 games and led the team with seven sacks. He missed the entire 2008 and 2009 campaigns with knee injuries.
He had one sack and 13 tackles this year.
Braidwood, 26, has also dabbled in both mixed martial arts and boxing.
He won his first MMA fight at Maximum Fighting Championship 11 in Edmonton with a first-round technical knockout.
The Edmonton Eskimos media guide says he boxed twice in 2008 going 1-1.