SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. – Alex Galchenyuk repeatedly used racial slurs towards a police officer in training and threatened to have two officers killed in a traffic stop last weekend, police said in a report, leading to the Arizona Coyotes rescinding the police officer’s contract on Friday players quit.
A Scottsdale Police Department report said Galchenyuk had been erratic and aggressive towards officers after what appeared to be a car crashing into a sign.
Citing contacts in Moscow, Galchenyuk said: “I will chop up you, your wife, your daughter” and “One call and you are all dead, your whole family, your bloodline is dead,” the police report said.
Galchenyuk, who was born in the United States to Belarusian parents and spent much of his childhood in Russia, repeatedly uttered a racial slur while referring to the officer-in-training, the report said.
A day later, the Coyotes terminated Galchenyuk’s contract for a material breach of terms Put him on unconditional waivers.
“We are aware of the incident involving Alex Galchenyuk and strongly condemn this type of behavior,” the Coyotes said in a statement. “After the club was brought to the attention of the allegations, we immediately began terminating the contract of their set piece right channels in connection with the National Hockey League.”
Galchenyuk was arrested Sunday on charges of hit-and-run, disorderly conduct, insubordination, resisting arrest and threatening or intimidating, police said.
It was not immediately known if Galchenyuk had a lawyer.
According to the police report, a police witness said a white BMW crashed into a curb and a sign. A training officer and a trainee came and saw Galchenyuk lying on the ground about 20 feet from the car. They watched as another man put him in the passenger seat before driving off.
The officer stopped the car and found that both men were severely disabled. Galchenyuk became agitated and began making erratic movements, after which the officer asked him to get out of the car. Galchenyuk struggled with the officer before being handcuffed with the help of the officer-in-training, the report said.
Galchenyuk voiced the threats and repeatedly uttered racial slurs as he was wheeled into Scottsdale Jail, police said. He was charged with an administrative offense and released the next day at his own request.
A witness told police Galchenyuk was the driver when the car crashed, then got out and lay on the ground. Galchenyuk later told officers he was joking about the threats, the report said.
The Coyotes signed Galchenyuk to a one-year, $775,000 contract on July 1, the opening of free agency, for his third stint with the team. He played 11 games for the Colorado Avalanche last season and spent most of the year in the AHL.
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