Shawne Merriman Arrested for Choking Tila Tequila

Shawne Merriman was arrested by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department after he allegedly choked Tila Tequila, aka Tila Nguyen.

San Diego Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call from Tial this morning at 3:45 AM. Tila claims she was "choked and physically restrained" by Merriman after she tried to leave his residence.

Merriman is accused of battery and false imprisonment.

Tila was transported to Pomerado hospital while Merriman was taken into custody. His bail was set at $58,000.

A lawyer for Merriman denied all charges and says Tila was "extremely inebriated" and that Merriman tried to stop her from leaving the home because he didn’t feel it was safe for her to do so.

A.J. Smith, the general manager of the San Diego Chargers, released this statement:

"It’s disappointing to hear about the issue involving Shawne Merriman. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and let the legal process run its course."

Merriman is going to have a tough time claiming he was only trying to help Tila from drunk driving when:

1) He can’t legally hold someone from leaving his house against their will, even if they are drunk.
2) He has a history of steroid abuse, which means he may have violent tendencies.

Merriman could have been drunk himself, and made a bad decision, but it sounds like he held Tila against her will, so he’s in trouble. The rule of in court in situations like this is: the woman is always presumed to be the victim, and all men are criminals.

Merriman would be wise to learn this lesson. Don’t tell a woman what to do. If the woman wants to leave, either let her go, or drive her to wherever she wants to go so she is out of your house, and no longer your problem. No one is going to arrest you for letting your drunk girlfriend drink-and-drive, but they will if you try to stop her.