Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown is facing a lawsuit that accuses the six-time Pro Bowler of throwing several pieces of furniture from a 14th-floor balcony and nearly killing a 22-month-old boy when the items landed a few feet away from the child and his grandfather.
According to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports and further information separately provided in a TribLive report, Brown was sued in August by Ophir Sternberg, CEO and founding partner of Lionheart Capital, who claimed that the alleged furniture-throwing incident “severely traumatized” his son, Amnon Sternberg. According to TribLive , the Miami-based executive is seeking over $15,000 in damages due to the lasting trauma his child suffered in the months that followed the incident.
In his lawsuit, Sternberg related that the incident took place on April 24 at the Sunny Isles Beach, Florida apartment complex The Mansions at Acqualina, at around 10:30 a.m. At that time, Amnon Sternberg and his grandfather were walking by the poolside when a number of “large and heavy objects,” including two vases and an ottoman, were hurled from the 14th floor of the complex. Ophir Sternberg claimed that his son could have been seriously injured or even killed, as some of the pieces of furniture landed “a mere foot or two” away from the boy and his grandfather.
#BREAKING : #Steelers WR Antonio Brown sued, accused of throwing furniture from 14th floor balcony, which nearly hit a toddler: https://t.co/nuLIyHftKF
— KDKA (@KDKA) October 9, 2018
As further alleged by Sternberg, Brown’s purported temper tantrum left some psychological scars on his son, who “ran away crying hysterically” after the Pittsburgh Steelers superstar threw the pieces of furniture from his balcony.
“Since that day, [Amnon Sternberg] has exhibited symptoms of fear and anxiety, having night terrors every night and waking up numerous times in a panic and crying, when this never occurred prior to the incident.”
The lawsuit also suggested that Antonio Brown was “extremely agitated, acting aggressively, and yelling at security personnel” when he was apprehended by police. TMZ Sports cited further passages from the lawsuit, which accused Brown of acting “without regard for human life” while he was allegedly hurling the furniture items.
Additionally, USA Today wrote that the owner of the condo unit Brown was staying in filed a separate lawsuit against the Steelers wide receiver, alleging that he refused to pay for the damages he caused during the incident. Like Ophir Sternberg in the first lawsuit, the unit owner is reportedly seeking more than $15,000 in damages.
As of the end of Week 5 of the 2018 NFL season, the 30-year-old Brown has accumulated 373 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 35 catches, as the Steelers sport a 2-2-1 record in the AFC North and are currently tied with the Cleveland Browns for third place in the division. The Steelers, who are also dealing with star running back Le’Veon Bell’s ongoing contract holdout, has yet to issue any comment on Brown’s alleged actions and the lawsuits filed against him.