A War Hero and Professional Cheerleader Arrested on Assault Charges

Megan Welter is an Iraq war veteran who has inspired many women. She was one of only a few female platoon leaders who served with the United States Army in Iraq. After graduating college she told ABC 15 "I wanted to take a job that was going to be meaningful, so I decided to join the Army." After completing basic training and Officer Candidate School she became a 2nd Lieutenant and was deployed overseas.

In 2011 she auditioned for the Arizona Cardinal football team and was chosen to dance for the team despite being one of the oldest women. She was celebrated for all her accomplishments until recently.

Here is what has been reported:

Welter placed a 911 call to the Scottsdale police at 3am on July 20, explaining that she’d been in a physical altercation with her boyfriend, Ryan, and that they’d both been drinking to celebrate her birthday. “My boyfriend became abusive…He smashed my head into tile,” Welter, sounding out of breath and intoxicated, told the emergency operator in the recording of the 911 call. She added that he had also put her in a "choke hold," and that “He knows how to fight, he’s a professional fighter, he’s been trained in wrestling.”

Police arrived at the residence to a distraught Welter frantically saying "Please get him, please get him out," and "He could have a knife from the kitchen."
Police Video

News Source

At that point the boyfriend exited the house, looking very scared, his voice trembling, and said that she was the one who assaulted him, that he recorded the entire incident with his phone.

“She found a text message from another girl and she started kicking the s*** out of me,” he explained calmly, adding that he hadn’t touched her. “I was asking her to stop, I was trying to leave. She was pulling out my hair, she was scratching me, she punched me in my face. I have it all on tape.”

If you want to see what really happened here is a link to the video recorded from her boyfriend's phone:
Assault Video

What happened after he showed this video to police? They arrested Welter, who was later released on a citation and given a court date. They found no probably cause to arrest the boyfriend for any crime.

The boyfriend recently released a statement saying, ""People make mistakes, no one is perfect. I honestly want the best for her and I hope that this doesn't take away from the good things that she has done for both the NFL, as well as the service to our country,” it read. “People seem to only remember the bad and it is easy to point fingers while standing on the outside. Now with that said, violence is never the answer and I honestly hope that this can be a learning experience for her and everyone else."

I think he is absolutely correct. Everyone makes mistakes and no one should be judged by one incident alone. He seems to be a very good-nurtured human being and I'm glad he had the wherewithal to videotape the incident with his phone and the judgement to not hit back. Despite him being a man, she was in the Army and trained to kill. The situation could have ended even worse because she was clearly out of control and not level headed.

This situation seems to have been resolved in the best possible way, however I shudder to think where the boyfriend would be now if he did not record the incident with his phone. The news headlines would be vastly different, the punishment much worse, and I can only assume he would be fired from his job and hard-pressed to find another one.

Megan Welter is still a member of the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleader squad for 2013.

reply to post by djr33222


It's a good thing her boyfriend recorded her assaulting him. The majority of the time they're going to believe a women's story over the man's simply because of size and strength comparison. He probably would be locked up right now well his girlfriend enjoyed getting the revenge for the text. She seems like a loose cannon when she's drunk. The mug photo shows her real disposition.

and...

its very interesting for some people i'm sure.
is ats just a vague usa news reporting site now?

why would i care if some woman had a fight with her boyfreind?

Originally posted by Rikku
and...

its very interesting for some people i'm sure.
is ats just a vague usa news reporting site now?

why would i care if some woman had a fight with her boyfreind?

I provided links to several news sources that covered the story. If you think it is a purposeless incident than you could send a letter to one of them or, much more practical, not waste your time reading or posting about such topics.

reply to post by WeRpeons


He definitely made a smart decision. Its unfortunate that men have to take such precautions these days.