Jay Barker, a former NFL player and radio host likely better known for having married country singer Sara Evans, was arrested on Saturday and charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
His alleged crime?
Trying to run Evans over with a car.
According to a Davidson County jail arrest report, Barker was booked on January 15 and released later that evening on a $100,000 bond.
He and Evans exchanged vows in 2008 and are currently separated, per a police affidavit obtained by CBS42.
The outlet quoted the paperwork as saying that the incident took place after Evans left a party at a neighbor’s home in Nashville, Tennessee and got in a friend’s car for a ride home.
When they passed by her driveway, Evans supposedly saw Barker “backing up his vehicle at a high rate of speed attempting to hit them but missed.”
Barker then reportedly fled the scene, yet eventually returned to speak with the cops.
After Evans and the other witness claimed that he was intentionally trying to hit them, Barker was arrested; he is scheduled to appear in court in March.
Barker has been the co-host of The Jay Barker Show, a radio show on Tide 100.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, Albama since 2018.
Hours after news of his arrest went viral, Barker posted a lengthy message to Instagram.
“We all confront challenges in life, and my family and I are facing one now,” the message reads.
“Unfortunately, headlines and quick-to-publish news stories do not adequately capture the full context and complex fabric of our lives.
“I love my family dearly, and at this difficult time, I respectfully ask for privacy for the sake of my family and especially for our kids.”
Evans filed for divorce from Barker in August after 12 years of marriage, citing “irreconcilable differences” and “inappropriate marital conduct,” according to documents obtained by Scoop Nashville.
These same documents indicated that the couple had separated in April.
The artist is best known for such tracks as “No Place That Far,” “Born To Fly” and “Suds in the Bucket.”
She has won both a Billboard award and a Country Music Award throughout her career.
Barker, meanwhile, was drafted to the NFL in 1995 but never played a regular season game.
The ex-couple has no children together, but Barker has several kids from a previous marriage.
Evans is also mom to Avery Jack, 22, Olivia Margaret, 18, and Audrey Elizabeth, 17, with first husband Craig Schelske.
She has not yet commented on this alleged incident.
