Rugby league player Matthew Lodge has been arrested in New York City for allegedly assaulting a man and stalking two women, telling them "this is the night that you die".
The West Tigers forward, who was stood down last month after being charged with several domestic violence and stalking offences in Sydney, is in America celebrating the end of the NRL season.
On Friday night, he posted a video to Instagram showing himself riding in a New York City cab.
However, New York police allege that later that night he followed two women home to a unit block, telling them "this is the night that you die".
The women were let into the building by a resident yet Lodge followed them inside and made his way into a unit belonging to the man who had let the two women in, the New York Police Department told Fairfax Media in a statement.
"There, the suspect assaulted the male and damaged the apartment," the statement said.
Bystanders called 911 and Lodge, from Marsden Park in Sydney's north-west, was placed under arrest.
He has been charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, criminal trespass, assault and menacing.
A man claiming to have shared a cell with Lodge on Friday night said the footballer was terrified, scared and didn't remember the events.
"I think he had a mental breakdown," the man said.
The 20-year-old, once a promising Kangaroos junior, was stood down by Wests Tigers in August after being charged with six counts of common assault, malicious damage, and stalking and intimidation, and being served with a provisional apprehended domestic violence order.
The matter was last mentioned in Blacktown Local Court on October 14, two days before his arrest in New York.
Lodge was also fined $10,000 after being involved in an altercation outside a Kings Cross nightclub on January 11.
At the time, he was stood down from training for one week during the preseason and was not allowed to play in the Auckland Nines and the Tigers' final trial against Parramatta.
He was also stood down for the club's match with the Dragons in March after he was found to be in breach of the club's behavioural guidelines.
Last year, he was sanctioned by the NRL for writing "c---" on his wrist strapping while playing for NSW in their under-20s State of Origin fixture.
