Ex-Indianapolis Colts OL, radio host Joe Staysniak arrested for domestic battery, strangulation

Former Indianapolis Colts lineman and radio personality Joe Staysniak has been arrested on a number of preliminary charges, including domestic battery and pointing a firearm, after being accused of punching his son and choking his son's friend.

Staysniak was arrested by deputies and booked just before 2 a.m. Tuesday, according to online Hendricks County Jail records. He’s also been preliminarily charged with intimidation and strangulation.

Deputies were called to Staysniak's home Monday night just before midnight, according to a probable cause affidavit detailing his arrest. A deputy in court records said a friend of Staysniak's son reported the pair were inside a vehicle when Joe Staysniak opened the door, grabbed him by the hood while trying to remove him from the Jeep and began to choke him. Staysniak's son and the friend — whose ages were not included in the affidavit — told deputies they were both punched.

GONE:'Big Joe' Staysniak no longer with 1070 The Fan morning radio show

The friend told authorities Staysniak "flashed a gun" during the interaction, the affidavit states.

Staysniak during interviews with deputies said his neighbors reported a suspicious car was parked in his front yard, so he tried opening several doors on the vehicle, opening the rear door and seeing his son inside. Staysniak told investigators he grabbed his son's friend by the hoodie "to get his attention," adding that he informed the pair he was carrying his firearm, but denied ever pointing the gun or touching them with it. He also denied hitting his son's friend.

Deputies in the affidavit said Staysniak told them his gun was inside the glovebox of his car, where investigators found a Smith and Wesson revolver.

Staysniak for more than two decades worked for Emmis Communications, starting at WIBC, and co-hosted The Fan Morning Show before leaving in 2021. In June 2020, he was suspended one week without pay after saying on air that Black people need to stop being victims, kneeling in front of the American flag is treason and the Confederate flag is not racist. He further said he found it hard to believe Black people are targeted by police.

SUSPENSION:1070 The Fan suspends Staysniak for 'insensitive' racial comments

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The comments came during a discussion about the protests in Indianapolis, and the country, that erupted after the killing of George Floyd, who died after a former Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes while he was facedown on the street.  

Staysniak has not been formally charged.

Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com.