Ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL player Edwan Coughman, 31, is being charged with staging a hate crime at two of his own restaurants. Coughman is accused of spraying the N-word and MAGA on the walls to make it look like a hate crime in order to collect insurance money.
According to Fox 8:
Police in suburban Atlanta caught the man they say ransacked two local businesses and vandalized them with racist graffiti, WGCL reports.
Their suspect is the 31-year-old former NFL player who owns both businesses.
When police showed up to the Create & Bake Pizzeria and the adjoining Coughman’s Creamery, they thought there was a robbery in progress.
“We were just in the car. We passed by and then we just saw a bunch of police cars” said Emma Cortez, a shopper.
The two restaurants were trashed inside.
Officers found racial slurs spray painted on the walls, swastikas and MAGA.
Officers tracked down the business owner, 31 year old Edawn Coughman, a former NFL player.
He was sitting in a truck with a hoodie and gloves on. Behind him was a bed full of newly unmounted flat screen televisions.
“He said he was the victim of a burglary that occurred earlier in the day and that he was just coming back to the business to retrieve those items,” said Cpl. Michele Pihera with the Gwinnett County police.
Police say Coughman hadn’t called police. Instead, he’d called his insurance company about alleged burglary.
