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Linebacker Reuben Foster Released From 49ers After Domestic Violence Arrest
An unnamed woman claimed that the football player pushed and slapped her during an altercation in a hotel room.
Reuben Foster, linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, has been released from the team following a domestic violence arrest over Thanksgiving weekend.
Sunday’s decision to cut Foster comes after repeated incidents, general manager John Lynch said, according to ESPN.
“In this case, it was communicated exceptionally clear and to the point as to what we expected out of him, and unfortunately what transpired yesterday — this isn’t a comment on what happened there because that would be mere speculation on our part,” he said. “It’s more of a comment on him not living up to what we had communicated and to the energy and the time that we’ve invested in him.”
Foster, 24, was arrested on Saturday and charged with one count of first-degree misdemeanor domestic violence, according to a press release from the Tampa, Florida police department.
Officers received a call regarding a possible domestic violence situation at around 9 p.m. that day, the release states. Upon arriving at the Grand Hyatt hotel, they found that Foster and the alleged victim — a 28-year-old woman with whom he has been in an on again/off again relationship for three years — were involved in a “verbal altercation,” according to police.
The woman told officers that Foster “slapped her phone out of her hand, pushed her in the chest area, and slapped her with an open hand on the left side of her face,” according to the release.
Authorities noted the existence of a “one inch scratch” on the woman’s collarbone, and Foster was arrested and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail.
He was released from custody later that day, after posting $2,000 bond, according to online booking records.
A judge has ordered the athlete to refrain from having any contact with the alleged victim, according to WFLA, a Florida-based CNN affiliate.
Foster was previously arrested on suspicion of domestic violence in February; his accuser later said in court that Foster had not hit her, and that her claims were made in an attempt to extort money.
The former linebacker was also arrested in January for possession of marijuana, but that charge was later dismissed.
The team confirmed Foster’s release in a brief tweet on Sunday morning, hours before the linebacker would have potentially played in Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
[Photo Credit: Hillsborough County Jail]
