Joe Staysniak – former Colts NFL player – is arrested after domestic incident involving son
Former Indianapolis Colts NFL player Joe Staysniak is arrested for domestic battery after “beating his son, choking his son’s boyfriend and pointing a firearm at the family’s Indiana home.”
Former NFL offensive linesman Joe Staysniak has been arrested and charged with allegedly beating his son and choking his son’s boyfriend following a “domestic incident” at the former Indianapolis Colts player’s home.
Police were called to Staysniak’s property Monday night after he became involved in a “delayed domestic incident” involving his son, Lucas, and her boyfriend, according to a probable cause affidavit in Indiana.
At 1:40 a.m., the 56-year-old man was booked for assault, pointing a firearm, intimidation, strangulation and domestic battery, according to Hendricks County Jail records.
Retiring in 1996, Staysniak took on a role on WFNI sports radio’s ‘The Fan Morning Show’ through 2021.
His son, Lucas, told police he was inside a parked vehicle near his home when his father approached him and tried to get into the car.
Joe Staysniak was arrested Tuesday in Indiana after a domestic incident involving his son.
The 56-year-old player is remembered for his time with the Indianapolis Colts between 1992 and 1995.
Once he opened a passenger door, Staysniak began assaulting Lucas and the other passenger, Lucas’s boyfriend, according to the former athlete’s son.
“Lucas reported that his father opened the right rear passenger door and that when he did, he (sic) grabbed the (passenger) hood and was choking him,” the affidavit read.
‘Lucas stated that his father then hit him, causing his lip to bleed and then hit him (passenger). Lucas said his father then held up a firearm and told him and (the passenger) that they were lucky to have seen who he was.
After his arrest, Staysniak told police officers that he got into a fight with his son only after receiving “a call from a neighbor who informed him that there was a suspicious car in his front yard,” according to the affidavit. .
The Ohio native further claimed that his son “tried to attack him” and that he had no choice but to “physically restrain him.”
His wife then stepped in to intervene, according to Staysniak.
The passenger also told police that Staysniak drew a gun and had it “against the side of this face at one point” during the altercation.
Staysniak revealed to officers that he displayed the firearm during the incident, but denied pointing it at anyone or threatening his son and the passenger with it.
Retiring in 1996, Staysniak took on the role of sports radio host before stepping down in 2021.
Staysniak (far right) attends a Guinness & Pro Football Hall of Fame event at a bar in 2012
DailyMail.com has contacted the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Department for further comment.
A former player with the Colts, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals, Staysniak spent six seasons in the NFL after entering the league as a seventh-round pick in 1990.
He is primarily remembered for his performances at Indiana, where he started all 16 games for the Colts during the 1994 and 1995 seasons. Staysniak was part of the 1995 Colts team led by ‘Captain Comeback’ quarterback Jim Harbaugh.
The Colts ultimately lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1995 AFC Championship Game 20-16. By the end of his career, Staysniak had recovered two fumbles in 66 NFL games played, starting 33 times.