Note: Story updated to reflect changes made by the San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco 49ers star linebacker Reuben Foster was arrested on Saturday night at the team's hotel on suspicion of domestic violence. By Sunday morning, the team had announced that Foster would be released — a move which will become official on Monday.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan insisted after Sunday's 27-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the decision to release Foster was not based on a presumption of guilt.
"This was based off other stuff," Shanahan explained. "I don't know whether that is right or wrong. We'll see what happens in the court of law. I wasn't there, but too many things have happened.
"We tried to help him out a lot. I know he has been trying too, but this was a mess up that it doesn't matter whether he did or not. It's time to move on."
The alleged victim is Elissa Ennis, the very same on-and-off-again girlfriend who accused Foster of domestic violence earlier this year, resulting in his February 11 arrest and the trial that followed. The judge later ruled that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case against Foster after Ennis testified that the charges against the linebacker were based on her lies.
News of the latest arrest was first reported by Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Branch, along with Evan Sernoffsky and Steve Rubenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle, also reported on Sunday that Foster and Ennis were involved in another incident in October. The report initially stated that it was another domestic violence incident but the story was later updated to state that it was a domestic disturbance. It also initially indicated that knowledge of the earlier incident became known on Sunday morning, which was not necessarily the case.
The earlier incident, which did not result in an arrest, reportedly took place in Santa Clara.
"The revelation of the October incident came on the same day the team let go of Foster, 24, hours after his arrest on Saturday at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay on one count of first-degree misdemeanor domestic-violence battery," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.
More details surrounding the October incident have been added to the report from the San Francisco Chronicle, including the following:
- A neighbor called police shortly after 11 p.m. on October 12 to report a loud argument between the couple at their apartment on Carlyle Court.
- Police said the couple had been yelling at each other "over material found on his cell phone."
- There were no signs of injury in the disturbance.
- The couple was advised to resolve their dispute peaceably.
- No arrests were made.
General manager John Lynch was asked before Sunday's game if Foster had any other missteps during the regular season before Saturday night's arrest.
"He's been doing a really good job," Lynch responded. "He really has. I mentioned the progress he's been making in a lot of areas of his life. Unfortunately, yesterday showed extremely poor judgment. And for that, we made this decision."
Players were in meetings at the time of the arrest but learned of the latest incident on Sunday morning.
"I think the organization has handled the situation as best they could," veteran cornerback Richard Sherman told reporters after Sunday's game. "Obviously, been patient and deliberate, and trusting and understanding of who Reuben is and what kind of heart he has. But it's just a really compromising situation to put the team in repeatedly."
