Richmond Man Allegedly Did the Wildest Thing With His Wife and a Chair to Watch Football Alone

The Baltimore Ravens beat the Atlanta Falcons thirty to twenty three in a wild overtime thriller.

One Richmond husband made sure nothing was going to interrupt his view of that game.

Richmond police say Terry Ward crossed a line with his wife and a chair in order he could watch alone.

Police Found Tape Residue on His Wife's Arms After a 911 Call

Richmond Police received a call around 11:30 p.m. on October 11 reporting a domestic disturbance at a home on Maplewood Avenue near Byrd Park.

Officers arrived to find a woman who identified herself as sixty four year old Terry Ward's wife.

She told officers Ward had taped her to a chair and left her alone in the basement while he watched the Ravens-Falcons game upstairs.

She said she had been restrained for thirty to forty five minutes before she got free.

Officers reported marks and sticky tape residue on both of her arms.

She also told police this was not the first time Ward had tied her up with tape in the basement.

Virginia's felony abduction law covers exactly this kind of restraint, and it carries up to ten years in prison once a judge decides the confinement was more than momentary.

Terry Ward Faces Felony Abduction After Allegedly Admitting It to Police

A criminal complaint quotes an officer who wrote that Ward confirmed the whole story himself.

The complaint states that Ward "stated that he did indeed tied his wife to a chair and place[d] her down in the basement."

Richmond prosecutors charged Ward with felony abduction and misdemeanor assault on a family member.

His arraignment and bond hearing were postponed, and his next court date is set for November 10 in Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

Court records do not show that Ward has entered a plea.

The misdemeanor assault charge alone can carry up to a year in jail, stacked on top of whatever a judge hands down on the felony count.

The Story Went Viral and Half the Internet Wanted Him Freed

The arrest spread fast after a post on X, and football fans turned Terry Ward into an unlikely folk hero almost overnight.

"Where's the GoFundMe," one fan asked.

Another wrote, "Damn that man only wanted peace for three hours."

A third joked, "How do we help him? Free Terry."

One commenter called Ward a "pioneer," and another cracked that "not all heroes wear capes."

Some fans offered to put money on his jail commissary account, joking that they at least wanted to hear his side of the story.

A felony abduction charge and a wife left taped to a chair in a basement are not actually a joke, whatever the replies say.

What the Research Says About Football Sundays and Home Violence

Economists David Card and Gordon Dahl found in a 2011 study that domestic violence reports rise roughly ten percent in cities where the home team was heavily favored and lost unexpectedly.

Ward did not even have a loss to point to.

The Ravens beat the Falcons thirty to twenty three in overtime, which means Ward wanted dead silence for a win, not a gut punch.

That detail separates this case from the pattern researchers have documented for years: he was not lashing out after heartbreak, he just wanted the house to himself for three hours.

A Football Game Just Became Exhibit A in a Virginia Courtroom

Every football fan has begged a spouse for a little peace and quiet during the fourth quarter.

Richmond prosecutors are about to argue that Terry Ward took that request several steps past anything a judge is willing to call peace and quiet.

Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court has seen plenty of domestic cases, but a grown man taping his wife to a basement chair over a Ravens game is the kind of detail that makes even veteran prosecutors do a double take.

A 30-23 overtime win is not going to be much of a defense when Ward goes back in front of a judge on November 10.

Sources:

• The Gateway Pundit, "Married Virginia Man Allegedly Ties Wife to Chair in Their Basement So He Can Watch Football Game by Himself," The Gateway Pundit, October 2026.
• WTVR CBS 6, "Richmond Man Charged With Abduction After Allegedly Tying Wife to Chair to Watch Football," WTVR, October 21, 2026.
• The Shadow League, "Terry Ward Ties Wife Up to Watch Football, Arrested," The Shadow League, October 2026.
• EssentiallySports, "64-YO Man Arrested After Taping His Wife to a Chair to Watch Football in Peace," EssentiallySports, October 2026.