Former NFL player Edawn Coughman accused of having simulated a racially motivated robbery

A man ransacked his pizza restaurant and his glacier near Atlanta in a bid to simulate a racist burglary in order to file an insurance claim, police said. CBS affiliate WGCL-TV announced that the 31-year-old suspect, Edawn Louis Coughman, had played for several NFL teams from 2012 to 2016, the last battle for the Arizona Cardinals.

Police officers from Gwinnett County responded just before 9:30 pm Wednesday after a call to 911 reporting a man who damaged companies, according to a press release on Friday. The Appellant stated that the man was driving a black Chevrolet Silverado without a license plate.

The officers stopped a truck matching this description when leaving the mall and noticed televisions attached to racks with damaged drywall on the back, the statement said. They learned that the driver, 31-year-old Edawn Louis Coughman, owned the businesses.

The back door of one of the companies was wearing yellow leverage marks and the police saw swastikas, "MAGA" and racial slurs on the inside walls, in what appeared to be black spray paint cool, the statement said. Some of the cabin cushions were sliced, mirrors were broken, cables were cut and a video surveillance system was broken.

Coughman told the officers that he had noticed the damage and the theft earlier in the day and had called his insurance company, but not the police. Officers concluded that the damage had not been caused earlier in the day and arrested Coughman for false crime report, insurance fraud and concealment of a license plate .

After obtaining a search warrant for Coughman's truck, officers searched it Thursday afternoon and found a yellow crowbar and pots of black spray paint.

Police said it appeared that Coughman was planning to make a hate crime believe and file an insurance claim while selling the electronics and undamaged devices.

Police said Coughman was out of jail. No phone number for him could be found immediately, and it was not clear he had a lawyer who could comment.

WGCL-TV reports that in addition to playing in the NFL, Coughman also played in the Canadian Football League. He attended Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia.