JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Police have charged a 32-year-old man with shooting Jacksonville Jaguars offensive lineman Richard Collier, who last month suffered multiple gunshot wounds that left him paralyzed below the waist.
Tyrone Romaro Hartsfield was charged Saturday with attempted murder, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Frank Mackesy said at a news conference. Hartsfield was being held in the Duval County Jail without bail and it could not immediately be determined whether he had an attorney.
Hartsfield told The Florida Times-Union about a week ago that he wasn't involved in the shooting. "I wouldn't dare go after no one," Hartsfield told the newspaper.
Police said Hartsfield wanted revenge after he and Collier fought in April outside a nightclub.
Collier and former teammate Kenneth Pettway were waiting for two women outside an apartment complex early Sept. 2 when a gunman fired into their vehicle, according to police. Pettway was not injured.
The lineman had 14 gunshot wounds to his back, left groin, left leg and right buttock. A bullet severed his spinal cord, causing the paralysis, and his left leg had to be amputated because of blood clots. Collier, 26, was released from the hospital earlier this week.
He was on a ventilator for two weeks and endured infections, bouts of pneumonia and renal failure. He has no recollection of the shooting.
Officials at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office did not return phone messages seeking details about the arrest. A message left with a Jaguars spokeswoman also was not immediately returned.
Collier, entering his third season, made the team as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2006. He competed for the starting job at left tackle this preseason but was beaten out by Khalif Barnes.
Collier is the third NFL player shot in the past year and a half. Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor was fatally shot during what police said was a botched burglary attempt at his Miami-area home in November. Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed when his rented limousine was sprayed with bullets minutes after leaving a New Year's party at a club in 2007.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
