Debra Todd was arrested in Alabama after court documents said she struck former Alabama and NFL quarterback Richard Todd multiple times with a pair of pliers during an argument on Monday night. Police records said she was booked into the Lauderdale County Jail on a felony second-degree assault charge and that her bond was set at $30,000.
The case drew attention because Richard Todd is not just any victim. He played 10 NFL seasons for the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints after winning a co-national title at the University of Alabama, and he was one of the best-known quarterbacks of his era in Alabama and NFL circles.
Court documents said the encounter happened at approximately 11:05 p.m. and that Debra Todd intentionally caused physical injury by striking him multiple times with the pliers. Richard Todd suffered multiple cuts and abrasions on his arms, but police records said he did not require medical treatment or hospitalization.
That detail leaves the case with an odd contrast: the reported assault was serious enough to support a felony charge, yet the injuries did not send him to a hospital. Police records also said there were two witnesses to the alleged assault, which raises the question of what was said or done before the argument turned physical and why those accounts may matter as the case moves forward.
By Wednesday afternoon, Debra Todd had not bonded out of jail. The next step in the case will be whether prosecutors move ahead on the second-degree assault charge with the witness statements and the court documents as the main pieces of evidence.
