from Natalie Neysa Alund and Adam Tamburin of The Tennessean,

The criminal investigation into Nashville Predators forward Austin Watson started after a witness saw the athlete "swat" his girlfriend outside a gas station and block her from getting out of their Jaguar SUV, newly released police reports show.

Watson, 26, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault last week....

The witness was smoking a cigarette when the SUV "pulled up quickly into the gas station parking lot" outside a Murfreesboro Road gas station, according to a Franklin police report.

After the witness saw the couple fighting and flagged down a passing officer, the victim initially denied Watson had touched her. Later in the interview, she said Watson was responsible for causing scratches on her chest.

The 31-year-old victim, who is also the mother of Watson's child, told police that "sometimes he gets handsy," although the report did not elaborate on what that entailed....

In 2017, Watson was one of several Predators team members to participate in a public-awareness campaign titled "Unsilence the Violence."

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