The 49ers released linebacker Reuben Foster on Sunday after he was arrested for striking his longtime girlfriend Elissa Ennis at the team hotel in Tampa. It turns out that back in October the police were called to the couple’s apartment for a domestic disturbance.
According to police, they were called by neighbors because of a loud argument. There were no signs of injury and no arrests were made.
In that incident, a neighbor called police on Oct. 12 shortly after 11 p.m. to report a loud argument between the couple at their apartment on Carlyle Court. Police said the two had been yelling at each other “over material found on his cell phone,” according to police Capt. Wahid Kazem.
There were no signs of injury in the disturbance, the captain said, but officers took photographs and made video recordings.
“We are familiar with Mr. Foster’s employer, and incidents like this come up and we play it safe,” Kazem said.
Officers filed a report on the incident, which they classified as a “domestic disturbance,” advised the couple to resolve their dispute peaceably, and left without making arrests.
That incident involved Foster and his longtime girlfriend, Elissa Ennis, 28, the same woman Foster allegedly struck in Tampa.
The 49ers were not aware of the October incident. Maybe because the old police captain was playing it safe, whatever that means.
It sounds a lot like the police were trying to protect Foster. His employer shouldn’t have anything to do with how police handle calls to his home.
