An ex-girlfriend of running back Dalvin Cook says the Vikings running back physically abused her and held her hostage a year ago.
Sgt. 1st Class Gracelyn Trimble accused Cook of “giving me a concussion, leaving a scar on my face and taking me through hell” in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, per the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
The 29-year-old claims she flew to Minnesota on Nov. 19 to break up with Cook. In her filing, Trimble says she asked Cook for help in collecting her belongings.
He “grabbed her arm, and slung her whole body over the couch, slamming her face into the coffee table and causing her lower forehead and the bridge of her nose to bust open.”
She attempted to use mace — which she said she had picked up upon entering the Inver Grove Heights home through the garage — on Cook, but was overpowered by him, with the irritant getting in her eyes. He allegedly assaulted her again when she went to shower, sending her into the bedroom where she grabbed the running back’s gun and called a friend.
Cook, she says, threatened her and beat her with a broomstick.
The next morning, he took Trimble to the airport with Trimble covering her injuries with a sweatshirt, sunglasses and face mask. She sought medical attention in Florida on Nov. 25, where she said she had been in an ATV accident and was told she had a concussion.
Included in Trimble’s filing is a text message allegedly from Cook saying, “I know what I did can be rewind…If you wanna go to the police I’ll respect that I’ll take my punishment for what I did!”
Cook’s lawyer, David Valentini, contends his client was the one who was abused and Trimble is attempting to extort him.
“While Mr. Cook and Sgt. Trimble had a short term relationship over several months, she became emotionally abusive, physically aggressive and confrontational, and repeatedly attempted to provoke Mr. Cook,” he said in a statement Tuesday night.
Cook says Trimble entered his home without his consent, punched and maced him, then held him hostage at gunpoint. Trimble’s injuries came as Cook was defending a houseguest.
“We are confident a full disclosure of the facts will show Mr. Cook did nothing wrong and any injury Sgt. Trimble may have sustained that evening was the result of Sgt. Trimble’s own unlawful conduct,” Valentini said.
Neither side filed a police report at the time and they eventually broke up for good in May. The two sides tried to come to a settlement, but were unable to, leading to their filings.
The Vikings said they only recently learned of the incident and alerted the NFL.