Chicago Bears defensive lineman Ray McDonald was arrested Monday morning in San Jose, CA on charges of domestic violence and child endangerment, NBC Bay Area reported. The arrest was carried out by Santa Clara police.
This is not McDonald’s first brush with the law. He was let go by the San Francisco 49ers last December, after he was arrested on felony suspicion of domestic abuse last fall and accused of rape later in the year. He was not charged in either instance.
In the first instance, he was arrested for assaulting his then-fiancee, who was pregnant with his son who was born in March. The two now live in Santa Clara, a source told NBC.
In December, police investigated rape allegations against McDonald. The charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. He subsequently sued his accuser for defamation, but earlier this month, the alleged victim filed documents claiming that another football player — McDonald’s former 49s teammate Ahmad Brooks — also assaulted her during the incident at McDonald’s house. She believes there is surveillance video, TMZ reported.
Chicago Bears chairman George McCaskey initially rejected his general manager’s request to sign McDonald because of concerns over his legal troubles and allegations of violence, but McDonald flew to Chicago and convinced McCaskey to change his mind during an in-person meeting. “I told him that my assessment was ‘bad decision-making,’ allowing himself to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or not withdrawing from a situation at the appropriate time,” McCaskey told the Tribune. “And I told him, if he’s to remain a Bear, that needs to improve. And he pledged to me that it would.”
An incident last year in which NFL linebacker Ray Rice was caught on video punching his fiancée in the face brought widespread attention to the league’s domestic violence problem. McDonald was the first NFL player arrested after the league announced new, tougher conduct codes in an attempt to address its tarnished image. The new policy established a process in which any player who is “formally charged with a violent crime or sexual assault” will immediately go on paid leave. The policy was quickly criticized for being nothing more than a PR ploy.
The NFL did suspend Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy for 10 games after a domestic violence incident last year when he played for the Carolina Panthers. That case was dropped when the victim couldn’t be located, USA Today reported.
Update:
The Bears have released McDonald following his arrest, USA Today reports.
“We believe in 2nd chances, but when we signed Ray we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear,” general manager Ryan Pace said in a statement. “He was not able to meet the standard and the decision was made to release him.”