Moment MMA fighter accused of threatening girlfriend’s mother is arrested for a domestic incident

The moment an MMA fighter, who is accused of threatening his girlfriend’s mother, was arrested for a domestic incident after he accused his lover of stealing money for drugs. The deceased woman’s son said her death was the ‘darkest and most harrowing time.’ 

Andrew Giegerich, 27, of Athens, was arrested on September 4, 2021, for violating a no-contact order and banging on his on-and-off-again girlfriend Amanda Bearden’s home. 

Earlier this week, a 2021 handwritten message contained in police evidence files was revealed, showing what is believed to be Giegerich writing, stating: ‘If you or your family ever come near me again I will hurt them. Have a nice life you lying ass b**ch. Don’t ever contact me again!!!” the New York Post reported. 

Her mother Debbie Collier, 59, was found dead, her body naked, burned, and tied to a tree on September 11, 2022, in Athens. 

A day before her death, Collier allegedly sent her daughter $2,385 via Venmo, attached to a bizarre note that indicted she was being held against her will. However, investigators have ruled out suicide or kidnapping. 

In the September 4 bodycam footage, obtained by Fox News, it shows the MMA fighter being taken into police custody after Bearden, 36, called the police because he was banging on her door and demanded his money, that he claims she stole from him to buy drugs. 

‘That’s the only reason we have contact,’ Giegerich told police. ‘Every week, she takes [$500] or $600 from my check, and I don’t know how that’s right. She goes and does dope with my money.

‘I’ve made $30 to $40,000 this year and I’m completely broke because she spent it all on drugs.’ 

Bearden – who has a criminal history, including several domestic violence cases – had called police to complain that her then-ex-boyfriend was ‘beating on the door and yelling’ around 8.30am. 

Her ex claimed that she ‘manipulated’ him into ‘linking our cards together so she can send herself money from my card’ after he lost his phone and that she continuously sends herself money. 

‘The first person to touch my money is her,’ he told police. ‘[She can] basically do whatever she wants to me, kick me out whenever she wants, basically just do whatever.

‘And it’s OK because I’m a man. There’s nothing I can do about it other than just let her do it and leave.’ 

The MMA fighter briefly mentioned Collier to police during the September 4 arrest, saying: ‘I’ve been arrested before – the last time I got arrested because they falsified whatever, I mean her mom…I don’t know what the issue is here. I don’t know why I’m so unliked (sic).’ 

Police reminded the fighter that he was not allowed on her property and that did not want to speak with him. 

They eventually arrested him and asked if he could just ‘go home,’ according to Fox News. 

While in the back the police cruiser, he grew agitated and began hitting the cage and sobbing, Fox News reported. He worried he wouldn’t be released from jail until November, but the officer comforted him and told he him he’d probably be released the next morning. 

He assured officers he did not do drugs, according to Fox News.  

He was also arrested on September 16, 2022, and was told to show proof of substance abuse treatment within 20 days. 

Collier’s son Jeffery Bearden wrote a tribute post to his mother on Saturday, writing: ‘I will never be able to fully articulate the loss of my mother and what she meant to me. She was my longest source of love, support, and encouragement. 

‘My mother was a very vibrant and strong soul. She was a person who valued kindness, empathy, and understanding throughout her entire life. She went through life recognizing the beauty and grace in everything she saw and experienced around her.’ 

He said the lost of his mother was the ‘darkest and most harrowing time’ and ‘our lives have been irrevocably changed.’ 

‘Our grief is here and our pain is deep,’ he wrote, alongside photos of him and his mother.