The San Francisco 49ers decided to stick with Reuben Foster after he was accused of domestic violence earlier this year, but that will not be the case in the wake of the linebacker’s latest arrest.
Foster remained in jail as of Sunday morning following an arrest for domestic violence at the 49ers’ team hotel in Tampa Bay. The team will not wait for the legal process play out this time, as they announced on Sunday that Foster has been released.
The San Francisco 49ers are releasing Reuben Foster.
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 25, 2018
Foster was charged with domestic violence after being involved in an altercation with a 28-year-old woman on Saturday night. The victim told police she was in an argument with Foster when 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.” Police observed injuries on the woman and arrested Foster, according to a report from ESPN.
Police said Foster and the woman have lived together in the past and been in an “on-again-off-again relationship over the past three years.”
Foster, San Francisco’s first-round pick in 2017, has been in legal trouble numerous times since he was drafted. He was accused of assaulting a woman and leaving her with a ruptured ear drum and swollen lip back in February, but the woman recanted the claims and said her injuries stemmed from a fight with another woman.
Prosecutors still tried to make a case against Foster using 911 calls, medical records and witness testimony, but the felony domestic violence charge against him was eventually dropped. Foster also faced a weapons charge in addition to a second-degree marijuana possession charge from a January incident, which resulted in him being suspended for the first two games of the season.
Both 49ers general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team has a zero-tolerance policy with any player who hits a woman, but the team decided not to part ways with Foster after his felony domestic violence charge was dropped. He is not getting the benefit of the doubt with the latest arrest.
