Orlando Predators' football player Bobby Sippio arrested on attempted murder charge

Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel
12:59 a.m. EST, May 26, 2012

Orlando Predators wide receiver Bobby Sippio was arrested Friday after his girlfriend's brother told deputies Sippio and another man kidnapped him, beat him and threatened to kill him.

Sippio, 31, picked up Sergio Moore, 27, from his apartment in Orlando about 11 p.m. Thursday, an Osceola sheriff's report shows. Moore told deputies he thought he was going to help Sippio and his friend Santana Coats, 30, move furniture.

Instead, Sippio pulled a gun out of the center console, Moore told investigators. Moore tried to open the door and the windows, but they apparently had been locked on the driver's side.

Sippio drove to a rural section of Osceola County off Poinciana Boulevard ? Sippio is a former Osceola High School Kowboys quarterback ? and forced Moore out of the car in a pasture off Oren Brown Road, a sheriff's report states.

There, Coats and the 6-foot-4-inch, 215-pound Sippio punched and kicked Moore and Coats pointed the gun at him, he told deputies. Sippio told Moore that his sister could not save him, a sheriff's report states.

After the beating, Coats and Sippio continued to terrorize Moore with the gun as they drove him home, according to deputies. Sippio and Moore are roommates, investigators said.

Moore sustained a broken nose, a swollen left hand and wrist and lacerations to the top of his head and cheek. Law officers interviewed him about 4:45 a.m. Friday at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Sippio, who has played for the Arena Football League Predators for two years, and Coats were arrested on charges of attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated battery and kidnapping.

Twis Lizasuain, a spokeswoman for theOsceola County Sheriff's Office, said the Predators have released Sippio. The team's coach, Bret Munsey, would not comment late Friday.

A former quarterback for the Osceola High School Kowboys, Sippio spent a couple of years each with the NFL teams in Miami and Kansas City, was released by the Detroit Lions during training camp and joined the Florida Tuskers before playing for the Predators.

Sippio's father, Robert Sr., 51, is a former Osceola High School assistant coach, teacher and star football player at St. Cloud High School. The blue Chrysler that Moore said was used to abduct him is registered to Sippio Jr. and his father, the Sheriff's Office said.

Nicole Saavedra of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. sjacobson@tribune.com or 407-540-5981

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