New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs was charged in Dedham, Massachusetts, in connection with an incident police described as occurring during his former private chef’s work for him, with prosecutors alleging felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery. The criminal case became public after a court hearing Tuesday in Dedham, where police said the complaint stemmed from a dispute that arose while the chef was employed at Diggs’ home.
Police said the chef reported to the Dedham Police Department on Dec. 16 that, two weeks earlier, while working as his private chef, Diggs came into her bedroom and became angry during a discussion about money. In the police narrative filed in the case, officers wrote that the woman told them Diggs “smacked her across the face,” she tried to push him away, and then he “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck.”
The filing described the woman telling officers that Diggs was behind her with his arm wrapped around her neck and that she had trouble breathing and felt she could have blacked out. The police narrative also said Diggs threw her on a bed and said “lies” when she told him she had not been paid.
Diggs, 32, denied the allegations through his attorney, David Meier, who said in an emailed statement that Diggs “categorically denies these allegations.” Meier said the allegations never occurred and described them as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated, characterizing the case as tied to an employee-employer financial dispute that was “not resolved to the employee’s satisfaction.”
Police said the chef sought payment for a week in November while Diggs was having houseguests and she had to go home. In the officers’ account, the woman left her position and the Dedham home but returned on Dec. 9 to retrieve her property, at which point police said Diggs referred her to his assistant, who told her she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement before she would be paid; police said she did not sign it.
In the police narrative, officers wrote that the chef was reluctant to file charges until last week, when “she let me know that she had changed her mind from a few days ago” and wanted criminal charges. A court arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 23, according to the reporting that surfaced the case.
The Patriots said they were standing by Diggs after the charges became public, with the team saying, “We support Stefon.” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was not quoted in connection with the charges themselves in the account of the Dec. 30 hearing, though the reporting noted Vrabel’s previous comments about handling team matters internally.
The charges arrive as Diggs continues his role with New England’s offense in the postseason push. The reporting said Diggs established himself as one of the NFL’s top receivers during runs with Minnesota and Buffalo from 2018 to 2023 and then signed a three-year, $69 million contract in free agency with the Patriots that guaranteed him $26 million.
Off the field, the account said Diggs’ tenure with New England began with controversy after a video surfaced in May showing him passing what appeared to be a bag of pink crystals to women on a boat. The reporting said it was not clear what the substance was, and that an NFL spokesperson declined to comment; it also said Vrabel said the team would handle that matter internally.
The case is separate from any team discipline or league comment tied to that earlier incident, and the allegations have not resulted in a determination of guilt in the reporting that described the charges and Diggs’ denial.