Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and his family have been the victims of repeated unwanted visitors at their Bloomfield Township home, including his home address being posted on Snapchat in late January after the team lost the NFC Championship Game, according to police reports obtained by The Detroit News.
The reports help explain why Campbell put the house up for sale for security reasons and moved into a home purchased by a limited liability company earlier this year, public records show. The couple “loved” the Bloomfield Township home, but security concerns necessitated the move to a more private location, Campbell told Crain’s Detroit Business last week.
There were at least four police reports on Campbell’s home, beginning on New Year’s Eve 2023 and ending days after the Lions blew a 17-point lead in the National Football Conference championship game in late January. The reports describe a series of unwanted visitors, phone calls and a social media post that included his home address. The incidents frightened Campbell’s teenage daughter, prompting the involvement of Lions and National Football League security officials and sparking long-term concerns for the family’s safety for Campbell’s wife, Holly Campbell.
After the loss to the 49ers on Jan. 28, someone posted the Campbell family’s address on Snapchat and called the coach a “dumb motherfucker.” The post was shared by one of the daughter’s male classmates.
It was the latest incident in a turbulent month.
The problems apparently began on New Year’s Eve, when township police were notified that “Coach Campbell’s” home was receiving “many” calls and people knocking on the door, the report said.
“Three people have come to the house so far,” the report says. “All of the people who have shown up at his home have been contractors (locksmiths, roofers, etc.). No problems and Campbell has no idea how his information was leaked.”
The report states that someone requested an “extra patrol” for the house.
A month later, after the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 28, people began showing up at Campbell’s house around 11:08 p.m. and “scared his daughter, who then left for the evening,” the report said.
A municipal police officer remained at the house until 1:30 a.m. but saw “nothing suspicious.”
Elton Moore, the Lions’ director of security, called township police that evening to report that Campbell’s home address had been posted online and people were being asked to stop by his home, the report said.
Campbell and his wife told investigators they left the game and left their daughter at home with her boyfriend.
“Vehicles and people would show up in front of their home, but not necessarily enter the property,” an investigator wrote. “The boyfriend would go outside in his vehicle and flash his lights at anyone who approached, at which point those people would turn and drive away.”
“The Campbells were concerned for their daughter’s safety and instructed her to leave the house with her boyfriend for the evening,” the report continues. “I assured the Campbells that we would send a patrol unit to the house and provide additional patrol for the evening.”
Source of the article tracked down
The next day, Lyle Dungy of the NFL Security Division contacted township police. Dungy reported that a classmate of Campbell’s daughter had posted the family’s home address on Snapchat, along with an obscene caption: “Fool trying to try.”
The classmate is one year younger than Campbell’s daughter.
Township police investigators contacted a security guard at the daughter and classmate’s exclusive private school and mentioned the Snapchat post.
“I informed (the security officer) of the situation and told her that I was concerned that there might be backlash due to the post and the reactions it may have generated,” the report states. “(The school official) later contacted me and told me that (the male classmate) had not shown up for class and had been removed from class.”
Investigators spoke to the classmate’s mother, Leslie. Her last name was redacted in the report.
“Leslie stated that she was aware of the situation and that Mrs. Campbell had already contacted her and left her a message about (the classmate’s) post,” the report states. “Leslie stated that (her son) reposted the post, however, the post was only online for three minutes, he had 30 views on the post, believed it was a fake address, and quickly removed it after thinking about it.”
The classmate’s mother contacted Holly Campbell to apologize and make it clear that he meant no harm, the report said.
“Leslie told me that the Campbells’ address was publicly available on the Internet and that her son had not helped anyone show up,” the investigator wrote.
Classmate is questioned
The classmate was later interviewed by investigators. He said he watched the game with two school friends and discovered a Snapchat post in which someone called for people to “pound eggs at Dan Campbell’s house” and provided the address.
“(The classmate) found the post funny … (and) said he copied the address and posted his own story taking a photo of the ground and using the address he had seen before,” the report said.
After the game, the classmate and his friends were “dismayed” by the Lions’ defeat and drove to Birmingham.
The investigator asked if the classmates had gone to Campbell’s house.
“(He) told me that they did not intentionally go to the Campbells’ house, pulled into the driveway, honked, or got out of the car and approached the house,” the report said. “He added that they may have driven past it … on their way to downtown Birmingham.”
However, the investigator wrote that given the location of Campbell’s home, there was no “reasonable way to get past the residence.”
The investigator spoke to Holly Campbell and said the incident did not meet the requirements for charges.
“Holly’s only concern is that her address is now known, and she fears that next season people will know when her husband is out of town and will try to take advantage,” the investigator wrote.
Additional patrol continued
“I added that the Bloomfield Township Police Department will be conducting additional patrols at the residence…” the report said.
In the meantime, the school’s security officer had questioned the classmate and contacted the local police in early February.
The school’s security officer learned that the classmates drove to the Campbells’ house after the game, parked on the street and yelled toward the house, the report said.
“(The classmate) stated that they shouted unpleasant things toward the house before they left,” the investigator wrote.
On January 30, two days after the playoff loss, the family was on high alert when a township police officer parked a Subaru Outback in front of Campbell’s house with its hazard lights on.
Within a few minutes, the vehicle owner arrived with a second car and a tow truck.
“I stayed there until (the tow truck driver) loaded the vehicle onto his truck,” the investigator wrote.
Campbell declined to discuss the incidents in detail last week.
“No offense, man, I don’t want to say anything,” Campbell said Friday. “It’s all good. Man, I’ve got a job to do. My main job here is to coach this team and get them ready every week. I’ve got to do my job, and that’s my only focus.”
There have been no police responses to the Campbell family’s new home, The News learned through a public records request. The News is not disclosing the location of the new home.
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