MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A former Minnesota Vikings defensive player is accused of strangling his girlfriend in an early-morning argument that was the result of ignored text messages, according to charges filed Wednesday by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office.

Anthony Ray Jefferson Jr., 25, was charged with on felony count of domestic assault by strangulation in connection with the incident, which happened Monday morning at his Eden Prairie home.

According to the charges, police were called to the 11000 block of Tiffany Lane at about 5:30 a.m. on reports that a woman was visibly upset and crying, and had marks on both sides of her neck. She told police she had been assaulted by her boyfriend, Jefferson, whom she has been with for three years and was living with.

The victim told police she had been out with him in downtown Minneapolis before they returned to their Eden Prairie home. They got into an argument, she went to sleep and he left to go to a neighbor’s home. According to the complaint, she woke up to him confronting her about ignoring text messages he had sent her. He grabbed her neck to the point she couldn’t breathe.

The complaint states after the initial assault, he continued to yell at her, grabbed her by the neck again and moved her from the bed to the floor, grabbing her neck again. She said she didn’t fight back because she couldn’t breathe and he is a lot bigger than her.

Jefferson was released by the Vikings on Monday, the same day of his arrest. He is still in the Hennepin County Jail.

Details of Jefferson’s charges were released on the same day that details of Erin Henderson’s DWI arrest were made available.