Ex-Patriot charged with sexual assault after fight at casino

Tebucky Jones got into a fight in the lobby at Mohegan Sun.

Former New England Patriots safety Tebucky Jones was arrested in Connecticut early Friday morning, after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and fighting with two men in a hotel lobby at Mohegan Sun, according to State Police in Connecticut.

State Police said Jones, 33, of Farmington, Conn., made inappropriate comments and contact with a woman in the casino's lobby at about 1 a.m. Friday. The woman's boyfriend, Nikolaos Papathanasiou, 22, of Quaker Hill, Conn., approached Jones and the two began fighting.

Mark Chichester, 36, of New London, was a bystander in the hotel lobby and entered the fray to assist Papathanasiou. He managed to punch Jones before police arrived. Lieutenant J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the Connecticut State Police, said he did not have specific information about how the fight started.

The Globe was unable to reach the three men involved in the fight.

Jones, who had 420 tackles in his eight-year career, knocked the woman to the ground in the scuffle and punched Papathanasiou in the face several times, Vance said. The woman was not identified by police.

Papathanasiou sustained significant injuries, but police have no specific information about their severity. "He refused treatment at the scene," Vance said.

Jones was charged with breach of peace, third-degree assault, and fourth-degree sexual assault and released on a $5,000 bond. Papathanasiou and Chichester were each charged with breach of peace and released on a $250 bond. They are scheduled to appear in court Aug. 21.

After graduating from Syracuse University in 1998, Jones was selected by the Patriots as a first-round pick and played for five seasons, until 2002. He returned to the Patriots for the 2006-07 season, but a leg injury kept him on injured reserve for the entire season.

In 2003 he was traded to the New Orleans Saints, where he played until 2004. He was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 2005, but was released after six games because of an injury. Jones played 110 games in his eight-year career, 72 of them as a starter.

A spokeswoman from Mohegan Sun declined to comment because the incident is still under investigation.