Former NBA star Craig Ehlo was arrested on domestic violence charges after reportedly starting a small fire at his home in Spokane, Wash., on Thursday.
Spokane County sheriff's deputies responded to Ehlo's home Thursday morning around 1 a.m. and reported that the 51-year-old "had been in a domestic dispute with his wife and he
knowingly started a fire that caused damage to the house," according to The Spokesman-Review.
Urgent: Should Obamacare be Repealed? Vote Here Now
When police arrived, Ehlo was being held down on the ground by two family members as a small pile of clothes burned nearby, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Craig Chamberlin told the Review.
The two male family members said they were holding Ehlo down because "they thought he was going to run and jump onto the fire."
Ehlo was arrested, taken to county jail, and charged with felony first-degree reckless burning and domestic violence. He is expected to appear in court Friday.
Class C felonies in Washington state carry maximum sentences of five years in a state correctional institution, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Ehlo played at Washington State University from 1981 to 1983 before being drafted into the NBA by the Houston Rockets. He played for 14 seasons with the Rockets, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, and Seattle SuperSonics.
Ehlo worked for a time as a television analyst for the Seattle SuperSonics and Gonzaga and, most recently, coached at Eastern Washington University, but he
resigned July 11, according to USA Today.
A
December 2009 Cleveland magazine story said Ehlo and his wife, Jani, had been married for 24 years, and had three children.
Latest: Do You Support Giving Illegals Citizenship? Vote Here Now
Related stories:
Former, Current NFL Players Speak Out Against Domestic Violence
New Effort Targets Gun Violence in Domestic Cases
WHO: Third of Women Suffer Domestic Violence