Falcons fire assistant coach Latroy Lewis after sexual assault allegation surfaces
The Atlanta Falcons dismissed assistant defensive line coach latroy lewis on Friday after a woman filed an incident report alleging sexual assault tied to a Dec. 5, 2024 encounter, and the Ann Arbor Police Department has opened an investigation. The move matters now because it arrives amid overlapping inquiries into Michigan football staff conduct and comes less than three weeks after another Falcons player faced criminal charges.
Latroy Lewis dismissal and Falcons action
The Falcons removed Latroy Lewis from his coaching role Friday following the emergence of the allegation. The team hired Lewis on Feb. 10 after coaching stops at Michigan, Toledo and UConn, and his background includes playing defensive line at Tennessee and three seasons in the NFL. The dismissal followed public disclosure of the claim and the initiation of a police probe in Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor Police Department investigation and timing
The Ann Arbor Police Department confirmed it is investigating allegations stemming from an incident on Dec. 5, 2024, while Lewis was on the Michigan football staff. Ann Arbor PD spokesperson Chris Page said the department was "just recently made aware" of the woman's allegations. The woman filed an incident report with the Ann Arbor PD and applied for a protective order earlier this week.
Allegations centered at Weber's Hotel on Dec. 5, 2024
The woman met Lewis through a dating app and began communicating in July 2024, while Lewis served as an assistant defensive line coach at Michigan. Her attorney, Karen Truszkowski, said Lewis' behavior "became increasingly aggressive" over text and phone calls and that the two met in person for the first time at Weber's Hotel in Ann Arbor in December 2024, where Lewis was purportedly to return items the woman had given him. Truszkowski said her client was raped and battered at the hotel.
Michigan reaction and allegations involving Sherrone Moore
The woman notified then-Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore, whom she knew personally, about the incident, Truszkowski said. Truszkowski alleges Moore did not report Lewis and instead "weaponized" the matter against the woman, including sending lewd and sexually charged text messages. Ellen Michaels, Moore's attorney, has denied those claims, stating, "Sherrone Moore did not fail to report misconduct, did not reward wrongdoing and did not harass anyone. These claims are false. "
Milford Police Department contact and subsequent accounts
In January 2025, officers from the Milford Police Department, which serves an area north of Ann Arbor, responded to a call at the woman's home after neighbors heard raised voices. An incident report shows both Lewis and the woman told officers they had a verbal argument that was not physical, and the woman told police that Lewis was a coach at Michigan and "stated that she didn't want to talk about it. " No charges resulted from that call. Truszkowski said her client was physically abused during that January incident but was too afraid to disclose that to officers at the time.
Legal statements and public posture of named attorneys
Lewis' attorney, Fabiola A. Galguera, said Lewis "intends to fiercely fight these false allegations with the support of his wife, family, and my team. " Paul Corliss, a spokesperson for Michigan, described the allegations as "deeply concerning" and referenced Michigan's ongoing review of Sherrone Moore's conduct and the culture of the athletic department, urging anyone with information to come forward.
Related team developments and broader context
The allegations against Lewis were first made public Thursday night by Darko State Media. The disclosure comes under a cloud that also saw Michigan fire Moore on Dec. 10, 2025, for an inappropriate relationship with a staff member; Moore was then arrested on charges tied to stalking and illegally entering the staff member's home and is awaiting trial. Separately, the developments involving Lewis surfaced less than three weeks after Falcons player James Pearce Jr. was arrested in Florida; Pearce faces five felony charges connected to an alleged incident on Feb. 7 where he "crashed hi"—the remainder of that description is unclear in the provided context.
What makes this notable is how personnel moves, criminal inquiries and internal university reviews have converged across multiple timelines: the Dec. 5, 2024 incident reported to police, the January 2025 police response, Lewis' Feb. 10 hiring date with the Falcons, and Michigan's December 10, 2025 action regarding Moore all sit alongside ongoing law enforcement work. The compilation of timelines helps explain the Falcons' rapid personnel decision and the invitation from Michigan officials for additional information to be shared with investigators.
Several digital outlets and pages connected to coverage displayed technical or access notices in the wake of the story: one page carried the title "429 Too Many Requests, " and another presented a "Your browser is not supported | freep. com" message that urged readers to download a supported browser to view content. Those items appeared alongside live statements and police actions as the matter continued to unfold.
