Aaron Hernandez Got in a Prison Fight

Former Patriot Aaron Hernandez got into a prison fight, it seems.

Hernandez “was involved in an altercation with another inmate” at the Bristol County House of Correction and Jail, a spokesman confirmed to the Boston Herald on Tuesday. Neither he nor the other guy was injured, but Hernandez could face criminal charges after the prison investigates the circumstances.

When Hernandez first became a suspect in the murder of Odin Lloyd, we suddenly contended with a very different picture of the 24-year-old from the one we’d accepted while he played for the Patriots. And yet, this new reconsideration came at the exact time when Hernandez withdrew from public (well, except to pump gas). Since he’s entered prison, we’ve had precious few glimpses into how he behaves there, and they’ve been a bit incongruous.

We’ve heard from him several times in the form of letters he’s written to prison pen pals. There, he sounds P.R. perfect: optimistic, grateful for the fans he has left, and missing his family.

As for how he gets on with his inmates, until this incident, he seemed downright chummy based on his role as a prison wingman. When women would write to him, he’d pass along their contact info to his cell mates, who would then write back.

As we sought to shift our picture of Hernandez, we weren’t left only with his current behavior. Reporters spent months digging into his past, where they found a picture of a thug (literally) who got into bar fights, allegedly shot a friend in the face, and remains a suspect in a different double murder. We know very little about who started this week’s prison fight, but the idea that Hernandez came into conflict with another inmate aligns with that picture of his past.

Of course, when we do finally get to trial, his lawyers will argue that he’s more star athlete and family man than thug. Hernandez maintains his innocence of the murder. Until then, we’ll be left parsing the news from the Bristol County House of Correction and Jail.