Ex-Buckeye charged with assault on deputy

A former Ohio State University football lineman was charged with felonious assault on a law enforcement officer, accused of slamming a van’s sliding door on a deputy’s arm at the Bogey Bar & Grill on Friday night.

The felony charges were filed Monday against Kirk Barton, 33, of Dublin, in Delaware Municipal Court. Barton was an offensive lineman for the Buckeyes from 2004 to 2007, earning All-America honors his senior year. He played for a number of NFL teams until retiring from pro football in 2010.

Delaware County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Whited gave the following account:

Deputies were working special duty at the Bogey Bar & Grill in the 6000 block of Glick Road in Dublin to help control crowds drawn by the Memorial Tournament. Management asked the deputies to remove Barton, who is 6 foot 6 inches tall and had a playing weight of 300 pounds, because he was intoxicated, stumbling and knocking people over.

Barton complied and entered a taxi van waiting outside the bar.

However, Barton couldn’t remember his address and a deputy had to help Barton retrieve the license from his wallet.

The taxi driver couldn’t read the address on the license and handed it back to the deputy, at which point Barton slammed the van’s sliding van door on Deputy Andrew Lee’s arm.

Barton refused to get out of the van so a deputy used a Taser on him. Deputies were able to get Barton out of the van after he was Tasered a second time.