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Alabama's Jonathan Taylor charged with domestic violence, criminal mischief

Marq Burnett
USA TODAY Sports
Alabama's Jonathan Taylor

TUSCALOOSA – Just five practices into his Alabama career, Crimson Tide defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor has been arrested for domestic violence III and criminal mischief, according to a spokesman for the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

A Tuscaloosa Police Department release stated officers "responded to UAPD (1110 Jackson Ave.) to speak with a victim who stated she was assaulted by her boyfriend at approximately 6 p.m. this (Saturday) evening."

Once the officers arrived, they spoke with the victim "about an altercation that took place at her residence in the 100 Block of E 15th Street."

After gathering information from the victim, officers spoke with Taylor and "found probable cause to arrest" him for Domestic Violence 3rd Degree Assault and Domestic Violence 3rd Degree Criminal Mischief.

Taylor was then taken to the Tuscaloosa County Jail and held on a s $1,000 bond and a mandatory 12-hour domestic violence hold, according to the release.

The victim, a 24-year-old female, had "minor injuries to her neck from the assault." The police report also stated that a bedroom door had a "hole punched in it."

Taylor arrived at Alabama having been dismissed from the University of Georgia this past July. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the dismissal came after Taylor was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault/family violence. A University of Georgia police department report alleged Taylor used his hands to choke and hit his girlfriend.

On National Signing Day, Tide coach Nick Saban called it a "university decision" to bring Taylor in and stated that it was a "decision that got made by a lot of people here."

"We recruited this young man out of high school, and we felt that from what we knew about him, what his high school coach said, what the people at the school that he was at said about him, and where he came from in junior college, that he was the kind of guy that deserved a second chance," Saban said in February. "But with that chance, we also have stipulations of things that he needs to do from a personal development standpoint so that he won't make any kind of mistake like this ever again.

"That's an ongoing process with him, and that's something that we continue to monitor, and he has done a very good job with."

But Taylor essentially received a "second chance" from Georgia, as the domestic violence charge was his second arrest in 2014.

In March 2014, Taylor was one of four Georgia football players charged with theft by deception after they were caught double-cashing meal reimbursement checks, according to the AJC. Taylor was granted pretrial diversion on those charges, but his second arrest violated those terms, according to the AJC.

Taylor's arrest comes on the same day as Tide defensive back Geno Smith being arrested for driving under the influence early Saturday morning.

A message was left with a spokesman from Alabama's athletic department, but was not immediately returned.

Marq Burnett covers Alabama for The Montgomery Advertiser and The Anniston Star.

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