Reports: Aaron Hernandez to Be Arrested for Obstruction of Justice

He's been questioned in a murder investigation.

Both ABC News and WBZ report that police have obtained an arrest warrant for Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez and that, for now, they intend to charge him with obstruction of justice. Neither outlet has detailed the timing and manner of his arrest. (Update: ABC now says the warrant has been drawn up but not yet issued. The Boston Globe tweets that there’s no warrant. Stay tuned … )

Police have questioned Hernandez and searched his home as part of an investigation into the apparent homicide of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old Dorchester man whose body was found dead of gunshot wounds not far from Hernandez’s North Attleboro home Monday. The Boston Globe reports that video has surfaced showing them together in the early hours of Monday morning. Police sources tell the Globe and WBZ that Hernandez isn’t cooperating with the investigation. That non-cooperation apparently extends beyond not answering questions, as ABC News reports that Hernandez’s home security camera was “smashed intentionally,” his phone was given to investigators “in pieces,” and a professional crew cleaned up his home Monday. If all that’s true (and it hasn’t been confirmed on the record by officials, so don’t bet your firstborn on it just yet) you can imagine why it might inspire some, uh, follow-up questions from police. Sports Illustrated’s Michael McCann tweets what the strategy behind an obstruction charge might be:

Reporters have been camping outside Hernandez’s home tracing his movements since his name first became connected with the investigation, but their interest grew heightened after a (apparently premature) report that Hernandez would be arrested Thursday. This led to a bizarre OJ-esque scene in which news helicopters breathlessly reported on his movements, following his white SUV around the area as he went about his day. Their bet that cameras might catch him doing something interesting didn’t pay off when he took a trip to Gillette Stadium, a gas station, and ultimately his lawyer’s office in the Prudential Center. So actually, the only thing OJ-esque about it was the color of the car, because a riveting police chase this was not.