Malik McDowell in Deerfield Beach: The Naked Arrest Outside a Daycare, the Taser, and a Case Still Without a Verdict
On January 17, 2022, Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Malik McDowell was found naked outside a Deerfield Beach child-care center, allegedly charged a Broward deputy, and was tased. Aggravated battery on an officer, resisting with violence, exposure. The 911 calls, the bodycam, the sleepwalking defense, and where the case stands.
On Monday, January 17, 2022, around midday, 911 callers in Deerfield Beach, Florida, reported a naked man walking around The Learning Experience, a child-care center. One caller told staff to "take these kids into the bathroom." The facility went into lockdown. Another caller said the man was lying in the middle of the road with cars going by.
The man was Malik McDowell, 25, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound defensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns, a former second-round pick coming off the best season of his career. What happened when a Broward Sheriff's deputy found him sitting on a curb is on body camera, and it is the reason he was charged with a felony assault on a police officer.
He has pleaded not guilty as far as the record shows, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This file is built from the arrest report as quoted in contemporaneous coverage, the 911 audio, the court hearings that have been reported, and the statements of his lawyers and his team.
What the deputy's report says
According to the report, McDowell said "f*** you" to the deputy and then "charged at me... at full speed with closed fist," punching him in the right eye, temple, and head. "The punches were swung with extreme aggression," the deputy wrote. "I was dazed." He deployed a Taser. The Sheriff's Office said McDowell then ran across a major road and that it took as many as six deputies to bring him under control. The deputy reported an eye nearly swollen shut and an ankle injury.
The charges: aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, both felonies, and exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor. At his first appearance on January 18, a judge found probable cause and set bond at $31,000, which he posted.
The defense, then and now
At that first appearance, defense attorney Adam Swickle floated the theory that "somebody may have slipped him something." By 2024 the defense had changed. Attorney Michael Grieco filed a parasomnia defense, arguing McDowell was sleepwalking: "the cops shake him up while he's still sleepwalking, and he goes into football player mode. He doesn't remember any of it." On June 3, 2024, a Broward judge ordered McDowell evaluated by a psychiatric expert for the prosecution, with a trial expected later that year.
Nothing has been publicly reported since. No trial, plea, or dismissal has surfaced in coverage. This file will be updated if one does.
The football consequences
The Browns called it a "very concerning incident" on January 19, 2022. In March 2022 they declined to tender him as an exclusive-rights free agent, ending his time in Cleveland. He has not been on an NFL roster since the 2021 season. In 2023 and 2024 he played for the Duke City Gladiators of the Indoor Football League.
McDowell's history matters to how the case was received. Drafted by Seattle in 2017, he never played a down for the Seahawks after an ATV accident. In 2019 he pleaded guilty to charges in Michigan arising from a police confrontation and served 11 months in jail, followed by three years of probation, which he was still serving in January 2022. His Browns season in 2021 had been widely covered as a comeback.
Why this case file matters
Bodycam of an arrest that turns violent tends to circulate as a verdict. This one has been online for four and a half years without a court ever ruling on what it shows, and the defense's account, that a man who does not remember the encounter was not acting voluntarily, is precisely the kind of claim video cannot resolve on its own. The footage establishes the sequence: the naked man, the deputy's approach, the charge, the Taser. It does not establish intent, and Florida law requires intent for both felony counts. Our videos on the case walk the 911 calls and the bodycam; for what the charges mean before a verdict, see charged versus convicted. We track the case on our court dates tracker.
Sources & records
- ESPN: Browns DT Malik McDowell arrested in Florida (Jan. 18, 2022)
- NFL.com: McDowell arrested on public exposure, aggravated battery charges (Jan. 18, 2022)
- CBS Miami: McDowell bonds out of jail (Jan. 19, 2022)
- Fox News: 911 calls from the daycare (Jan. 19, 2022)
- CBS Sports: Browns will not tender McDowell (March 2022)
- AP: judge orders psychiatric evaluation in sleepwalking defense (June 2024)
Case status as of this writing: Malik McDowell is charged in Broward County with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and exposure of sexual organs arising from January 17, 2022; the last reported development is a June 3, 2024 psychiatric-evaluation order, and no disposition has been publicly reported. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This article is based on the arrest report as quoted in contemporaneous coverage, 911 audio, court hearings as reported, and statements of counsel. Featured image: the Broward County Courthouse, Fort Lauderdale, via Wikimedia Commons, credited below the image.
Reported to our editorial standards: records first, charges reported as charges, corrections welcomed.
Frequently asked questions
What was Malik McDowell arrested for in Florida?+
On January 17, 2022, Broward Sheriff's deputies responded to 911 calls about a naked man walking around The Learning Experience child-care center in Deerfield Beach. According to the deputy's report, McDowell, then 25 and a Cleveland Browns defensive tackle, charged at him at full speed with a closed fist and punched him in the head; the deputy deployed a Taser and it took several deputies to subdue him. He was charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence, and exposure of sexual organs.
When was Malik McDowell arrested?+
January 17, 2022, midday, in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Some coverage, including our own earlier description, misdated the incident; the arrest was January 2022.
What is Malik McDowell's defense?+
At his first appearance his attorney suggested 'somebody may have slipped him something.' By 2024 the defense had filed a parasomnia, or sleepwalking, defense. In June 2024 a Broward judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation by a prosecution expert, and a trial was expected later that year. Defense attorney Michael Grieco said McDowell 'goes into football player mode' when shaken awake and 'doesn't remember any of it.'
Was Malik McDowell convicted?+
No conviction has been publicly reported. The last reported development is the June 2024 evaluation order. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Browns declined to re-sign him in March 2022; he later played in the Indoor Football League.
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