Former Arizona Coyotes forward Alexander Galchenyuk threatened to have police officers killed after being stopped for an incident that led the NHL club to release him, according to multiple reports Saturday.
The Arizona Republic newspaper and KPHO/KTVK television in Phoenix cited Scottsdale police report details regarding a July 9 hit-and-run auto incident involving the 29-year-old American.
Galchenyuk allegedly threatened to “chop” an officer’s neck off, issued racial slurs and threatened the officer’s family.
“One phone call and you’re all dead, your whole family, your bloodline is dead,” the police said Galchenyuk said. “Your friends are going to get murdered.”
Galchenyuk, 29, was taken to jail and later claimed to have been joking.
The report said Galchenyuk showed signs of impairment and slurred speech and reached under his seat before being handcuffed.
Charges against Galchenyuk include private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest and threatening or intimidating.
Galchenyuk, who signed a one-year contract on July 1 with the Coyotes, had his contract terminated on Friday, citing a breach of terms in the standard player contract.
“We are aware of the incident involving Alex Galchenyuk and strongly condemn this type of behavior,” Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong said in a statement on Friday.
“Once the club was made aware of the allegations, we immediately began the process of terminating his standard player’s contract through the proper channels in conjunction with the National Hockey League.”
Galchenyuk, whose father was a former player for Belarus and the Soviet Union as well as US minor leagues, lived in Russia as a youth but has played for the United States in the World Championships.
He has played 11 seasons in the NHL for Montreal, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Ottawa, Toronto and Colorado and scored 146 goals in a combined 654 NHL games.
