Domestic violence charge vs. Foster dropped
The State Attorney’s Office in Florida has dropped a misdemeanor domestic violence charge against Washington Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster, according to Hillsborough County court records.
The charge stemmed from a Nov. 24 incident between Foster and his former girlfriend the night before his former team, the San Francisco 49ers, played the Buccaneers in Tampa.
Foster had been scheduled for arraignment Thursday in Hillsborough County.
Ed Suarez, an attorney for Foster, declined comment to ESPN.
Foster was released by San Francisco in late November and claimed on waivers by Washington just three days after being arrested. The team received heavy criticism for picking up Foster. He remains on the commissioner’s exempt list.
An NFL spokesman said Thursday, “We are monitoring all developments in the matter, which continues to be under review by the league.”
Tampa police said Foster and the woman were involved in a verbal altercation and 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.” Police said a 1-inch scratch was observed on the woman’s left collarbone.
According to the arrest report, the woman pressing charges was Elissa Ennis, with whom Foster has been involved off and on for three years. Ellis discussed the incident during a December interview with “Good Morning America.”
It wasn’t their first domestic incident. Last February, Foster was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and possession of an assault rifle, a loaded Sig Sauer 516 rifle. The domestic violence charge was dropped in May when Ennis recanted her allegation that Foster had hit her; Ennis told GMA that she lied when she recanted, saying she did so out of love.
Foster pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor weapons charge and received two years of probation and was banned from possessing guns during that time.
Foster served a two-game suspension to start the 2018 NFL season, stemming from an arrest for misdemeanor marijuana possession last January. Charges were dropped after he completed a first-time-offender diversion course.
ESPN’s John Keim contributed to this report.