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A former Ohio State football player was arrested and charged with assaulting and strangling his girlfriend this week – nine months after losing his eye in a horror crash.
Michael Roen McCullough, who played as a walk-on longsnapper for the Buckeyes from 2018-20, has been charged with one felony count of strangulation, according to Franklin County Municipal Court records.
Police in Columbus are said to have responded around 9pm on Friday regarding a domestic violence incident which took place the previous morning, local news station WBNS-TV reports.
Court documents say the alleged victim – who is believed to be McCullough’s girlfriend – claims he broke her cell phone during an argument in the car together, before punching her in the face multiple times, grabbing her throat and pushing her against the window.
The woman said she could not breathe and felt panicked. She also did not remember being driven the rest of the way home, before she regained consciousness when they parked up in front of their house.
According to an affidavit, the officer who interviewed her observed that she had a black eye, a cut and swollen lower lip and a bruise on the front of her throat.
An ex-Ohio State player was arrested and charged with assaulting and strangling his girlfriend
Michael Roen McCullough played as a walk-on longsnapper for the Buckeyes from 2018-20
McCullough lost his right eye after he was involved in a horror crash just nine months ago
McCullough is currently booked into the Franklin County jail without bond and is set to appear in court on Tuesday.
His arrest comes just under a year after he lost his right eye in a devastating car accident, which saw him try to swerve out of the way of an incoming vehicle and crash into a stationary one at 50mph.
Another vehicle carrying a tractor then slammed into the back of McCullough, before the hood of his own car flew through his windshield and bisected his face across his right eye and nose.
‘I stayed conscious through the whole thing, kicked my door open, told someone to call 911 and another to call my mom,’ he said in an Instagram video after the crash in November 2024.
‘During that phone call, I told my mom that I split my face in half, I was bleeding out, and that I loved her.
‘I then got on my knees while I was bleeding out and I prayed. I thanked God for who he is and [asked him] to place his hand over me in that moment.’
McCullough was then transported in severely critical condition to a hospital in Ohio State, where he had two surgeries with titanium plates to reconstruct what doctors called ‘the most complex fracture they’ve ever seen.’
After losing function in his right eye, he was told by doctors that it would have to be surgically removed, while his nose would also need to be reconstructed.
A GoFundMe page set up on behalf of McCullough has raised $51,308 at the time of writing.
