Former CFLer Adam Braidwood faces Port Coquitlam firearms charges

METRO VANCOUVER — Former Edmonton Eskimos defensive end Adam Braidwood was arrested for firearms related offences in Port Coquitlam on Sunday afternoon, RCMP say.

RCMP received several 911 calls around 10:30 a.m. reporting an apparent break and enter at a home along the Terry Fox Hometown Run route.

As several RCMP officers responded to those calls, another officer on traffic duties for the Terry Fox Run in the same area was confronted by a man holding a weapon, RCMP said in a release.

Braidwood, a Port Coquitlam resident, was arrested without incident and the firearm was seized, RCMP said.

He faces charges for possession and discharge of a firearm, as well as breach of recognizance.

The six-foot-four, 274-pound Braidwood began his Canadian Football League career in 2006 and spent five years playing for the Eskimos.

The 27-year-old tattooed defensive lineman – known as the “boogeyman” – also did mixed martial arts and boxed during 2008 and ’09, when injuries kept him off the football field.

Officers who responded to the home found no indication that a break and enter had happened, but did find that a number of shots had been fired inside the residence.

“Investigators found no damage outside the residence and determined that the only injuries suffered as a result of the discharge of the firearm were suffered by Braidwood,” the release said.

Braidwood was taken to hospital for treatment and is scheduled to appear in Port Coquitlam provincial court on Wednesday.

While the incident happened minutes before Terry Fox Run participants entered the area, forcing a reroute. Police said the runners were never in danger.

Braidwood’s legal troubles began last November, when he was one of three people charged in the assault and kidnapping of a 20-year-old Stony Plain, Alta., man.

During the incident, witnesses reported seeing several men forcing a man into the trunk of a car near Edmonton. RCMP later spotted the car, and found a shirtless man with deep cuts to his arms and legs outside the car with another man. Braidwood and another man were inside the car, police said.

Braidwood was charged with aggravated assault and forcible confinement in the incident. Forcible confinement is defined as confining or imprisoning someone against their will by use of force, and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

In December, Braidwood faced a list of new charges, including assault, threats to cause death or bodily harm, two charges of unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a loaded or prohibited firearm, two charges of careless storage of a firearm, careless use of a firearm and two breaches of recognizance.

Edmonton police said those charges were related to an incident that happened Dec. 2, 2010, at an Edmonton home and had no connection to the November charges. The case was turned over to the domestic offender crime section, which investigates violence between people in a current or former “intimate relationship,” a police spokeswoman said at the time.

An additional two charges of sexual assault, along with one count of possession of a handgun with a defaced serial number, were later laid against Braidwood in the December incident.

Soon after Braidwood appeared in an Edmonton court for the December charges, Eskimos general manager Eric Tillman issued a statement saying the club was disappointed with the player.

“Learning of this second alleged incident with Adam is incredibly disappointing. We had a very candid discussion a couple of weeks ago, where I expressed our sincere concerns about Adam as a human being while at the same time, being crystal clear about what our organization expected of him going forward.”

In April, the Eskimos announced they were releasing Braidwood from his contract, citing a mutual agreement.

Drafted first overall in 2006, the former Washington State player was Edmonton’s nominee for outstanding rookie that season, but a recurring knee injury forced him to sit out both the 2008 and 2009 seasons.