Ex-Vikings Star Everson Griffen Tased After Walking Onto I-394 in Minneapolis

Former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen, 38, was arrested early Wednesday after Minnesota State Patrol troopers found him walking along the left-hand shoulder of westbound Interstate 394 near downtown Minneapolis. Troopers deployed a taser on Griffen and took him into custody after he refused to leave the roadway, and he was booked into the Hennepin County jail on a charge of failure to obey a lawful order.

State troopers were dispatched to the freeway near Dunwoody Boulevard at 2:51 a.m. Wednesday after receiving reports of a pedestrian on the roadway, and located Griffen shortly before 3 a.m., according to Bring Me The Sports. Per state patrol, Griffen refused a trooper's direction to leave the roadway, prompting the use of the taser. Medics assessed him for injuries and cleared him before he was transported, and jail records show he was booked into custody at 5:38 a.m. FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul reports the account draws on records from Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County jail roster and Hennepin County court.

Judge Orders Force to Bring Him to Court

Court records reviewed after the booking show Griffen refused to attend his scheduled hearing Wednesday, prompting a judge to order the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office to use reasonable force to produce him for court. The station's report notes his next court appearance is now set for October 6, 2026. Under Minnesota law, failing to obey a lawful order of a peace officer or walking illegally on a controlled-access freeway is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, per FindLaw.

The freeway arrest comes just a month after Griffen was arrested by Winona Police during an 8:12 p.m. traffic stop on July 23 for driving 62 mph in a 40 mph zone. He was charged with a gross misdemeanor for operating a vehicle without a required ignition interlock device, according to Bring Me The News, a case Hoodline covered at the time. That interlock restriction stemmed from a prior drunken-driving sentence, and just weeks before the Winona stop, Griffen had shared on social media that he was getting back on track.

A Pattern Stretching Back Years

The ignition interlock requirement traces to a third-degree DWI conviction from a May 2024 arrest on Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, where state troopers found cocaine in his pocket and recorded a 0.10 blood alcohol concentration. In November 2024, a Hennepin County judge sentenced Griffen to four years of supervised probation and 60 days on electronic home monitoring, with a one-year workhouse sentence stayed, according to KARE 11. In July 2025, he was arrested on a warrant for violating that probation by failing random drug testing and failing to abstain from alcohol and drugs, an arrest that came shortly after he was removed from a Delta Air Lines flight for unruly behavior; a Hennepin County judge subsequently ordered him into mandatory substance use assessment and treatment.

Griffen also has an October 2024 misdemeanor reckless driving conviction after Minnesota State Patrol cited him for driving roughly 130 mph in a 60 mph zone on Interstate 494 in Minnetonka, according to KROC-AM, which also notes he had previous citations for driving into a fence and a gazebo in Mound, Minnesota. Griffen has been open about his mental health struggles. In December 2021, he publicly revealed on social media that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, saying the condition escalated following his mother's sudden death in 2012, per CBS News; that disclosure followed a 2021 police standoff at his home in Minnetrista.

Career Highs Before the Off-Field Turmoil

Earlier still, in September 2018, the Vikings ordered Griffen to undergo a mental health evaluation after erratic behavior led to police responses at a Minneapolis hotel and his home. NFL.com reports that doctors concluded the episode stemmed from unresolved emotional distress rather than chemical dependency, and Griffen spent five weeks in evaluation and treatment before returning to the team.

On the field, Griffen built one of the more decorated careers among Vikings pass rushers, playing 12 NFL seasons between 2010 and 2021, 11 of them with Minnesota, and earning four Pro Bowl selections along the way. He recorded three seasons with double-digit sack totals and finished with 85.5 career sacks across 170 NFL games, ranking seventh in franchise history with 79.5 sacks for the Vikings, according to Pro Football Reference. He also warmed up before a 2021 game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, part of a career that once made him a fixture on Minnesota's defensive line. As of Wednesday, it remains unclear whether Griffen has entered a plea in the new I-394 case or how his ongoing probation may be affected.