Former University of Utah football player Tavion Thomas has been charged with three felonies for allegedly threatening a girlfriend with a knife, taking away her phone and car keys and telling her if she called authorities, she would be “dead before the police arrive.”
Thomas, 23, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail last week where he was still being held Tuesday without bail. A detention hearing is set for April 21.
The charges filed last week in 3rd District Court mark the third time Thomas has been accused of being violent or a threat to women in the past six months, a search of police and court records show.
Thomas’ girlfriend appeared in court Tuesday and argued for his release from jail saying he needs treatment for bipolar and borderline personality disorders.
“He mainly needs to get back into his counseling — anger management, therapy — and get back on his medication. But I do not believe he is a danger to me,” she said. “I don’t believe with my mind, body and soul that he would hurt me purposefully. I just know with the conditions he suffers with he can’t control it sometimes.”
Thomas was denied bail after the prosecution read through the allegations laid out in his pending Bluffdale and Salt Lake City cases.
Thomas, a running back who is currently going through the NFL draft process, is also charged with domestic violence involving a different woman in Bluffdale, prosecutors noted. Arguing for him to be held without bail, they said his “violent conduct poses a serious threat to the current and future safety of his victims and the community at large.”
• In October, a witness told police she saw Thomas grab a girlfriend while they were out barhopping in Salt Lake City and later drag her alongside a car. The case was closed after the girlfriend told police she only had a verbal argument with Thomas and nothing physical had happened, according to a police report.
• Last month, Thomas was charged with electronic communication harassment, a class B misdemeanor, stemming from a Jan. 8 report of domestic violence involving a woman in Bluffdale.
• A judge signed a temporary dating violence protective order against Thomas on Jan. 12, according to court documents. The contents of the filing are sealed, but to grant a temporary protection order a judge would have to either find that Thomas had abused the woman who filed for the order or that there was a “substantial likelihood” that he would. The order was ultimately dissolved on Jan. 31 when neither Thomas nor the woman appeared for a court date, records show.
• The latest charges stem from April 4 and involved a woman in Salt Lake City, according to a probable cause statement. That night, Thomas is accused of getting into an argument with a girlfriend, “pulling a knife” on her and taking her phone and car keys, according to court documents.
“Tavion vehemently denies the allegations contained in the information filed by the State and maintains his innocence,” said Thomas’ attorney Skye Lazaro and agent Jimmy Gould in a joint statement.
“It is a cardinal principle of our system of Justice that every person accused of a crime is presumed to be innocent unless and until his guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt,” the statement continued. “The presumption is not a mere formality, it is a matter of the most important substance. It is unfortunate that the State has levied these allegations and held him without bail at a time when he is at the brink of a career in the National Football League. Under the protections of the Constitution afforded to all, we ask that a rush to judgment be withheld and allow Tavion to exercise his due process rights to the fullest.”
Thomas appeared before a judge Tuesday via a video call from the Salt Lake County jail. He was ordered to remain in custody without bail and his next hearing was set for April 21.
Court documents state that on April 4, Thomas’ girlfriend, whom Thomas lives with, said she was going to leave their home after he pulled the knife. Thomas took her car keys and told her she was “not going anywhere,” the statement reads.
When Thomas’ girlfriend asked for her phone back to call the police, Thomas replied, “You’ll be dead before the police arrive. I will take your car and drive it all the way to Dayton,” according to court documents.
Thomas’ girlfriend told authorities she suggested they go to sleep and Thomas agreed. “She said she did not sleep at all because she was afraid of Thomas as he had the knife laying next to him in the bed,” court documents state.
The next morning, Thomas’ girlfriend was getting ready to leave the home to head to the airport, court documents state, but Thomas once again took her car keys and her phone while holding the knife. Thomas said he would only give the phone back if he drove her to the airport and she shared her location with him on her phone, according to the statement.
A roommate told police they heard Thomas’ girlfriend ask for her phone back that morning, according to the statement. The witness asked Thomas to give back the phone but he refused, documents state. The witness offered to drive Thomas’ girlfriend to the airport, according to the statement.
Thomas has been charged with one count of aggravated kidnapping in the course of committing unlawful detention, and two counts of aggravated assault. All three counts are third-degree felonies, which carry maximum penalties of up to five years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors requested that Thomas be held without bail because Thomas “would constitute a substantial danger to the alleged victim of domestic violence if released on bail.” Prosecutors wrote they believed Thomas would be a flight risk to leave Utah if he were released on bail.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah's Tavion Thomas pulls in a pass at Utah Pro Day Thursday at the Eccles Field House, March 23, 2023.
Thomas has been preparing for the NFL draft after a junior season during which the former All-Pac-12 running back was benched multiple times while head coach Kyle Whittingham alluded to Thomas needing to show more “consistency and accountability on and off the field.”
In 2021, the two-time transfer from Independence Community College and Cincinnati was an impact player for the Utes, becoming a first-team, All-Pac-12 player in his first year.
Thomas led the team in carries and rushing yards that year, gaining 1,106 yards. He also ran for 21 touchdowns, leading the conference and finishing third in the country. He helped the Utes win 10 games and make their first Rose Bowl in school history.
Coming into last year, the expectation was for Thomas to build off of a standout first season. Instead, Thomas struggled.
After opening with 115 yards on 23 carries against Florida, he only reached the 100-yard plateau once more all year. He spent the season in and out of the lineup for a variety of reasons.
In mid-September, Thomas’ aunt died days before Utah played San Diego State in the third game of the season. Thomas’ aunt helped raise him in Dayton, Ohio, but he still played that week and recorded 16 carries.
A week later, though, Thomas sat out the first half against Arizona State. Whittingham did not call it a suspension, but said Thomas was, “available physically, but we were planning to play him in the second half this game. Sometimes, things happen and you have to make certain moves. That was an internal thing, but Tavion’s healthy and fine.”
Thomas was again limited in his carries on Oct. 15 against USC, rushing just eight times. Whittingham once more sidestepped the questions about Thomas’ status on the team, saying, “We’ll keep all that internal, regardless of what it is, unless there’s something very permanent in nature.”
On Oct. 23, Thomas and his girlfriend were bar hopping in Salt Lake City when, as they were about to change locations, Thomas tried to force his girlfriend into his car, according to a police report.
He started driving, and “dragged [his girlfriend] alongside the vehicle,” according to police documents. Witness statements alleged that Thomas eventually stopped the car and started to grab his girlfriend’s arm and push her to the ground before driving away from the scene. When police were called, they could not locate Thomas.
The police report states that Thomas’ girlfriend “did not have any physical marks on her from the altercation” and told police Thomas had dropped her off after a verbal argument but “nothing physical had occurred between them.” Police records show the case was eventually closed.
(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Utes running back Tavion Thomas (9) as the University of Utah host Southern Utah University at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Sept. 10, 2022.
Thomas did not travel with the team to Washington State for the next game. He returned to the team to play against Arizona on Nov. 5.
Thomas played in his final game against Oregon on Nov. 25 and stepped away from the team for the Pac-12 championship and second Rose Bowl. He cited a toe injury and the need to get ready for the 2023 NFL draft.
Thomas participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl and the NFL Combine. He also partook in Utah’s Pro Day on March 23, two weeks before being arrested.
