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Former Buc Must Stay Away From Ex-Girlfriend

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By VALERIE KALFRIN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 22, 2008

TAMPA -- A circuit court judge today ordered a former offensive guard for the Buccaneers' winning Super Bowl team to stay away from the mother of his children after she said he struck her with a box of candy.

Cosey Coleman, 29, was held on $500 bail at Orient Road Jail after Tampa police charged him Thursday with misdemeanor domestic battery. He faces up to a year in jail if convicted.

Judge Walter Heinrich ordered Coleman to be held until 6 p.m. today, when he would be served with a restraining order stating he is to have no contact with the woman, Rernitral Johnson, 33.

This is the second time Coleman has been charged with domestic battery in connection with Johnson, public records show.

"This has been going on for years," Johnson said in court. "I've been afraid to step up."

Coleman played for the Buccaneers from 2000 to 2004, including time as an offensive guard in Super Bowl XXXVII in San Diego, according to the National Football League.

Afterward, he played for the Cleveland Browns for two years, according to the NFL.

Jail records list him as unemployed.

Coleman and Johnson do not live together. Johnson said in court they broke up in July but have two children together, ages 6 and 2.

Coleman was visiting her Thursday evening when they began to argue and he struck her in the left eye with a yellow candy box he was holding, an arrest affidavit states.

In 2002, Tampa police charged Coleman with misdemeanor domestic battery after he and Johnson argued outside a day-care facility tending to their then-8-month-old son, records show.

Police said Coleman grew angry because Johnson was late to pick up the child and slapped Johnson when she reached into his car.

The argument escalated to the point Johnson got into Coleman's car. "He pushed, kicked and slapped her and pulled her out of the car by her feet, causing her to land on the pavement," an affidavit states.

He entered a pretrial intervention program and was not prosecuted, court records state.

News Channel 8 photojournalist Kate Caldwell and information from the Tribune archives contributed to this report. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at (813) 259-7800 or vkalfrin@tampatrib.com.

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