Docs: Ex-Coyotes player threatened to kill Scottsdale officers’ families, used racial slurs

July 14, 2023
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SCOTTSDALE, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- New documents shed light on disturbing behavior from a former Arizona Coyotes hockey player after he was arrested earlier this month in Scottsdale.

Just before 6 p.m. on July 9, Scottsdale police responded to reports of a hit-and-run involving a drunk driver in a BMW sedan. Witnesses saw the suspected driver, later identified as Alexander Galchenyuk Jr., lying on the ground near Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road after hitting a sign and curb and stumbling while walking, documents say.

As police were arriving, Galchenyuk’s father, Alexander Galchenyuk Sr., reportedly showed up at the scene to pick up his son. Police saw the older man pick Galchenyuk Jr. off the ground and put him into the passenger seat of the BMW. His father then got into the driver’s seat, documents say, and drove away just before officers conducted a traffic stop.

After the car pulled over, officers spoke with both men. The father told police his son had been out in the sun for a while, and that’s why he was stumbling, according to investigators. Galchenyuk Sr. also claimed he struck the sign and curb by accident, not his son. However, police noted that the description of the suspect given by witnesses matched Galchenyuk Jr., not his father.

As one officer was speaking with the father, he noticed Galchenyuk Jr. wasn’t cooperating with a second officer’s orders. He was “heavily impaired,” with bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and smelled like alcohol, police said. Investigators say Galchenyuk Jr. told one officer, “You understand I will chop all of you [expletive]” before the officer pulled him out of the car. “You know, the [expletive] I’ll call will chop your neck off,” he added. Galchenyuk Jr. was put in the back of a patrol car when he began threatening officers, stating, “I’m gonna chop you, your wife, your daughter,” “You’ll never see your family; how scary is that?” He also threatened to kill officers’ families, police said. “One phone call and you’re all dead, your whole family, your bloodline is dead,” he said. “Your friends are going to get murdered; you know that [expletive].”

Galchenyuk continued the threats, claiming he would call his connections in Moscow, Russia, to have an officer’s wife and daughter’s kidney’s cut out, documents state. Galchenyuk then began calling one officer racial slurs several times. He was then taken to jail. While in jail, Galchenyuk Jr. reportedly told the officer he would still “make the phone call” but then laughed and claimed he was joking.

Officers spoke with Galchenyuk Sr., who claimed he had never seen his son act so aggressively and said it might be due to alcohol or his nicotine pouches, police said. Authorities found the hit-and-run victim pulled over in a nearby parking lot roughly a half mile from where Galchenyuk Jr. was found. She wasn’t hurt during the initial collision but told police she wanted to press charges. Galchenyuk Jr. was booked into jail on charges including private property hit and run, disorderly conduct, failure to obey, resisting arrest, and threatening or intimidating.

The Coyotes cut ties with Galchenyuk Jr. on Thursday, stating they “strongly condemn this type of behavior.” Officials added that once they found out about the allegations, they began terminating Galchenyuk Jr.’s contract. He was cut less than two weeks after the team signed him to a 1-year contract on July 1.

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Source: Arizona's Family