A domestic abuse charge against Washington Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster has been dropped, court records show.
The charge stemmed from a November arrest at a Tampa hotel, according to court documents filed by the Florida State Attorney’s Office in Hillsborough County.
In a notice of termination of prosecution sent to the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, State Attorney Andrew H. Warren said after reviewing the facts of the case, they decided to dismiss the charge against Foster. It said he did not need to appear for any future court proceedings.
“We take allegations of domestic violence very seriously and thoroughly investigated this case,” Estella Gray, director of communications for the Office of the State Attorney 13th Judicial Circuit, said in a statement. “After a meticulous review of the facts of the case, there was insufficient evidence to move forward with filing charges.”
Foster, then with the San Francisco 49ers, was in Tampa a day prior to a November 25 game when he was arrested on a domestic violence charge and released by San Francisco the following morning.
Foster, 24, was arrested November 24 after police responded to the Grand Hyatt hotel in Tampa, Florida, for a domestic violence investigation, according to a city press release.
The former first-round draft pick was charged with one count of first-degree misdemeanor domestic violence and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail. Police said Foster’s 28-year-old female companion reported that he “slapped her phone out of her hand, pushed her in the chest area, and slapped her with an open hand on the right side of her face.”
The 49ers released Foster after his arrest, hours before their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A few days later, Foster was claimed off waivers by Washington. He was placed on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list, which means he can’t practice or attend games while the league conducts a review.
On Thursday, an NFL spokesman said the league is “monitoring all developments in the matter which continues to be under review.”
Washington’s season ended on Sunday with a 7-9 record, missing the playoffs. The team, through a spokesman, had no comment when CNN reached out Thursday.
This was not the first accusation against Foster.
In April, Foster was charged with felony domestic violence for allegedly attacking his girlfriend in February at their home, leaving her bruised and with a ruptured eardrum, the Santa Clara County district attorney said. At that time, the 49ers announced he would not participate in team activities as he tends to legal matters.
The woman, Elissa Ennis, is the same person who had accused him in both of those 2018 domestic violence cases. CNN doesn’t normally identify the alleged victims of domestic violence. However, Ennis decided to speak to ABC News, saying in December that Washington’s decision to pick Foster up just days after his arrest felt like “a slap in the face.”
In May, those charges were dismissed after she recanted her story, and Foster then rejoined the team.
In July, Foster was fined and suspended without pay for the first two games of the regular season for violating the NFL’s conduct and substances of abuse policies. The violations stem from a weapons offense and a misdemeanor drug offense, both of which were resolved earlier in 2018.
