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Former NFL Star Allegedly Stages Fake Hate Crime
Former Washington Redskins player, Edawn Louis Coughman, was arrested on Thursday after police say he staged a racially-motivated burglary inside his Georgia restaurant. One day prior to the arrest, police were dispatched to “Create and Bake Restaurant” and “Coughman’s Creamery”, after a maintenance worker at the shopping plaza where Coughman’s establishment is located called about someone burglarizing the restaurant around 9:30 p.m.
Once officers entered the former NFL star’s spot, they found several racially-motivated words and symbols spray-painted on the walls and doors including the word “MAGA”. Police also found several booth cushions sliced open, broken mirrors, cut wires and damaged surveillance system. Shortly after, local police spotted a black truck without a license plate and pulled it over thinking it could be a possible suspect — turns out, it was Coughman driving the vehicle. He told them he noticed the damage and called his insurance company but did not call 911.
Upon further investigation, the lead detective on the case sensed that something was suspicious about Coughman, so they arrested him and impounded his vehicle. In the truck, police found a crow bar used to pry open the back door of his business as well as several cans of black spray paint. According to Gwinnett County Police,
Coughman conjured a premeditated plan to collect insurance money from his damaged business, disguising it as a hate crime, and selling off the undamaged electronics found in his truck.
Coughman has been charged with false report of a crime, insurance fraud and concealing a license plate. He bonded out of jail shortly after, but is expected to appear in court sometime soon.