CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP)—Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry suffered serious injuries after falling out of the back of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute with his fiancee, police said Wednesday.

Henry was found in the road in south Charlotte “apparently suffering life-threatening injuries,” according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. Henry was transported to Carolinas Medical Center, the local trauma unit, but spokesman Scott White said he was not listed in hospital records and had no other information.

Police spokesman Robert Fey said officers were stationed near the 26-year-old Henry’s hospital room. He had no information Henry’s condition, but said he was alive.

Police said a dispute began at a home just before noon and Henry jumped into the bed of the pickup truck as his unidentified fiancee was driving away from the residence.

“The domestic situation continued between the operator and Mr. Henry,” the police said in a statement. “At some point while she was driving, Mr. Henry came out of the back of the vehicle.”

Henry was found on a residential street about a half mile away from the home when police were called to the scene after a medic report that a man was down.

Henry’s agent, Kenneth Rush, did not immediately return phone and e-mail messages. Fey wouldn’t name the woman and said no charges would be filed on Wednesday.

Henry was away from the team after breaking his left forearm during a win over Baltimore on Nov. 8. He had surgery and was placed on season-ending injured reserve. Charlotte is home to his fiancee’s parents, the Bengals said.

Team spokesman Jack Brennan said he had little information other than Henry was badly hurt.

“We are aware he was in an accident and that his injuries are very serious,” Brennan said. “We are obviously staying in touch with the situation and are ready to offer whatever assistance we can.”

Henry is in the final year of his contract with the Bengals, who let him go after his fifth arrest following the 2007 season. Owner Mike Brown(notes) then brought him back a few months later, signing him to a two-year deal, and Henry had stayed out of trouble since his return.

A deep threat, he was fourth among Bengals receivers this season with 12 catches for 236 yards and two touchdowns at the time of his injury.

The Bengals’ third-round pick from West Virginia in 2005, the speedy Henry was a key part of Cincinnati’s playoff team as a rookie. He’s caught 119 passes for 1,826 yards and 21 touchdowns in five seasons, but has also been plagued by off-field woes.

He was suspended for two games by the league in 2006 and the first eight games of 2007. The Bengals released him following his fifth arrest that offseason, but Brown decided to bring him back during training camp over the objections of coach Marvin Lewis.

Henry had to miss the first four games of 2008, his punishment for the offseason arrest on an assault charge. The charge was dropped after his trial ended in a hung jury.

Associated Press Writer Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
[Edited 12/17/09 7:26am]

Wow, that guy is a mess...he'll be dead or jailed in a few years.

Sometimes...you just can't stop a train wreck..you just wait for it and look for casualties when it's done....

glad he is okayish!
now let's discuss the fact that he looks like an alien....

BklynBabe said:

well we can discuss why he looks like an alien, but i don't believe he's ok..

Troubled Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was fighting for his life Wednesday night.

Henry, 26, suffered serious injuries when he was thrown from the back of a pickup truck Wednesday during a domestic dispute with his fiancée, according to police in Charlotte. According to FoxNews.com, he was on life support.

Henry was reportedly transported by ambulance to the trauma unit at Carolinas Medical Center after being found in the road about a half-mile from the home where the couple was staying. Police were responding to a 911 call in reference to a person being down.

Apparently, Henry's fiancée, Loleini Tonga, was driving away after an argument just after noon when Henry leaped into the truck bed.

"The domestic situation continued between the operator and Mr. Henry," the Charlotte-Mecklenberg police said in a statement. "At some point while she was driving, Mr. Henry came out of the back of the vehicle."

Henry was already on injured reserve and lost for the season to the Bengals, who are one of the surprises of the league and are leading the AFC North with three games remaining in the season.

Team spokesman Jack Brennan told the Associated Press he had little information other than Henry was badly hurt.

"We are aware he was in an accident and that his injuries are very serious," Brennan said. "We are obviously staying in touch with the situation and are ready to offer whatever assistance we can."

Henry, in a second chance with the Bengals, started the year as the team's best deep threat. He had 12 catches for 236 yards before he broke his left forearm in a win over Baltimore Nov. 8.

Henry was suspended for eight games in 2007 and was cut by Cincinnati in April of 2008 after his fifth arrest in 28 months, including charges of marijuana possession, carrying a concealed weapon, drunken driving, providing alcohol to minors and assault. Owner Mike Brown re-signed Henry four months later over the objections of head coach Marvin Lewis and the receiver had been making good on his promise to stay out of trouble. He is in the final year of a two-year contract.

"Yeah, it helped me," Henry said earlier this year of the suspensions, which totaled 14 games in three seasons. "It helped me focus up, and it made me realize that if I continually wanted to play, I had to do right and be a professional."

"Chris came here very unprepared for the NFL and all the challenges he was going to have," Lewis said earlier this year. "Chris had to learn some social skills.

"People here have worked very closely with Chris on being a professional and being what a young man should be. He has a ways to go in different areas. Now he's got to match on the field what he's done off the field."



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.co...z0ZubWEpNJ
[Edited 12/16/09 19:12pm]

From what I've heard he is on life support.

BklynBabe said:

That's just wrong.

I don't know why he'd jump on the back of a moving truck.

thats real classy , guys

He's been a wreck from the start, but I hope he pulls through

This cat is ALWAYS in some sort of Drama.

ESPN just said he died

He passed away at 6:36 am EST
[Edited 12/17/09 7:00am]

RIP

SCNDLS said:

I just heard this too. So, so sad. Oh my gosh.

>>>Chris has been one of the most frustrating athletes to ever play in Cincinnati, because of his tantalizing talent and his issues off the field. I've critcized him loudly and made more than my share of jokes at his expense.

At the same time, I've enjoyed watching him attempt to repair both his image and his life. He's been amazingly upfront about what he's done wrong and the people he's letdown, and what he's needed to do to change his life. I've been rooting for him as both a player and a person. He has seemed determined to take advantage of the opportunity to redeem himself.

Fewer things are as tragic as the road to redemption being cut short. Even fewer are as tragic as a father being taken from his children.<<< - Mo Eggar 1530AM sports radio, Cincinnati

Apparently he had been in Charlotte since he broke his arm in Nov, planning his upcoming March wedding.

WTF?????

well damn. RIP.

Chris was dead ringer 4 King Tut.
He will be missed on the Bengals.

Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry dies


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry has died, one day after suffering serious injuries upon falling out of the back of a pickup truck in what authorities describe as a domestic dispute with his fiancee.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said Henry died at 6:36 a.m. Thursday. Henry was 26.

Henry was rushed to the hospital Wednesday after being found on a residential road "apparently suffering life-threatening injuries," according to police.

Police said a dispute began at a home about a half-mile away, and Henry jumped into the bed of the pickup truck as his fiancee was driving away from the residence.

Police said at some point when she was driving, Henry "came out of the back of the vehicle." They wouldn't identify the woman, and no charges were immediately filed.

"Detectives continue to work diligently on this active investigation," police said in a statement Thursday announcing Henry's death.

Henry is engaged to Loleini Tonga, and the couple has been raising three children. Tonga's MySpace page identifies herself as "Mrs. C. Henry" and has a picture of her next to a person who appears to be Henry. She also has a post from Tuesday talking about buying wedding rings. A neighbor said Wednesday that the Tonga family owns the home where police say the incident began. Charlotte is home to his fiancee's parents.

Henry was away from the team after breaking his left forearm during a win over Baltimore on Nov. 8. He had surgery and was placed on season-ending injured reserve following the game.

Throughout his career, his temper and poor decisions got him in trouble.

He was ejected from a game and suspended for another at West Virginia, where former coach Rich Rodriguez told Henry that he was an embarrassment to himself and the program. His reputation was already costing him -- the Bengals were the only NFL team to bring him in for a pre-draft visit in 2005.

They found that his demeanor didn't match his reputation. Henry was shy and spoke in a quiet voice. They warned him that he had to stay in control if he was going to stay in the NFL. Then, they picked him in the third round.

In a sense, it was already a second chance.

"I'm worth the chance," Henry said, when he showed up the following weekend for a rookie minicamp. "I'm just happy they took me."

Henry become a vital part of the offense as a rookie, helping the Bengals reach the playoffs in 2005 with his ability to run past defenders to grab long passes. In the final month of the season, he also showed his other side, getting arrested for marijuana possession. After a playoff loss to Pittsburgh, he was arrested on a gun charge in Florida.

Henry and former Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones became the league's two most trouble-bound players. Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended both in 2007 -- Jones for a full season, Henry for half of it -- as part of a toughening of the league's conduct policy.

When Henry was arrested for a fifth time following that season on an assault charge, the Bengals decided they'd had enough. At his arraignment on April 3, 2008, Municipal Court Judge Bernie Bouchard called Henry "a one-man crime wave." He was released by the Bengals the same day.

It was a jolt to Henry, who had dreamed of an NFL career since high school, when he got the NFL logo tattooed on the back of his right hand. No team showed an interest in bringing him back. His career seemed finished.

Then, Bengals owner Mike Brown -- who refers to himself as "a redeemer" -- changed his mind and gave him another chance.

"If you only knew him by hearsay, you'd think he's some kind of ogre," Brown said, during the Bengals' appearance on HBO's "Hard Knocks" series this summer. "It's not true. He's a good person. When you see him up close, you'll find that you'll like him. He'll be a soft-spoken, pleasant person."

This time, Henry seemed determined to stay out of trouble. After only 19 catches and two touchdowns in 12 games in the 2008 season, he set about making himself a topflight receiver again. He got into top shape and worked out with teammates in the offseason, showing more resolve than at any point in his career.

Henry also changed his personal life, spending more time with his fiancee and the three children they are raising. Teammates noticed a pronounced change in his demeanor.

"He's a great kid with a great heart," quarterback Carson Palmer said as training camp started. "He's changed his life around. He ran into some trouble, made some bad decisions, and realized that. He's sorry for them, apologized for them, and has done everything he can to make himself a better person. I'm just proud of him."

Before the 2009 season, Henry got a new tattoo that matched his new outlook. Below his left ear, in flowing one-inch script, was the world "Blessed."

"I kind of felt like I dug myself out of the hole and started doing the right things," Henry said in an interview with The Associated Press as training camp opened. "People say, 'How you feeling now Chris? You doing all right?' I just tell them I'm blessed. That's why I got it."

He caught a touchdown pass in each of Cincinnati's four preseason games. A thigh injury slowed him early in the season, and he had 12 catches for 236 yards -- his 19.7-yard average per catch leads the team -- when he broke his left arm during a win over Baltimore on Nov. 22, ending his season.

When he showed up in the locker room for the first time since surgery to fix the fracture, Henry sounded confident he could get through the latest setback.

"It just comes with time, you know?" he said. "I learned to handle all situations, so I'll be all right."

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



Read more: http://sportsillustrated....z0ZxbniyEi
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Holy shit...I heard about this last night. WTF?

Very sad.