The ex-girlfriend of San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster is recanting her claims that he physically assaulted her.
The attorney representing the 28-year-old woman said the injuries that landed her in the hospital Feb. 11 were the result of a fight with another woman and not caused by Foster, USA Today reports.
“He did not strike her, injure her or threaten her,” attorney Stephanie Rickard said, adding there is video evidence of the confrontation with the other woman. Rickard also said the woman made the accusation because Foster threatened to break up with her.
The woman initially claimed that Foster punched her in the head 8-10 times, dragged her by her hair and physically threw her out of his home in Los Gatos, Calif. According to a police report of the incident, she suffered multiple bruises and a ruptured ear drum.
Meanwhile, the Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office filed felony charges against Foster on April 12 for domestic violence with an allegation that he inflicted great bodily injury, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime and possessing an assault weapon. Prosecutors say they plan to move forward with the case, despite the ex-girlfriend retracting her statements.
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch reiterated his stance that team officials will wait for Foster’s case to go through the courts before taking any action.
“We take the gravity of these charges extremely seriously,” Lynch said. “We do feel like patience is the right approach right now. We’re going to learn things through this legal process. But I want to be abundantly clear: If these charges are proven true, if Reuben did hit this young lady, he won’t be a part of this organization going forward.”