The woman who accused Reuben Foster of slapping her during a dispute in late November appeared on Good Morning America on Thursday to shed more light on the events that led to Foster's release from the San Francisco 49ers.
Foster was arrested on a first-degree misdemeanor domestic violence charge Nov. 24 in Tampa, Fla.
The alleged victim, Elissa Ennis, told Good Morning America that Foster invited her to Florida ahead of the Niners' game against the Buccaneers so that the two could discuss their relationship. Ennis said she told Foster she was going to tell his current girlfriend that he paid for her to fly to Tampa, which triggered the altercation.
"He took one of my phones and slapped me and pushed me," Ennis said. She also claimed that police and the 49ers did not initially believe her because of her previous recanting of domestic violence allegations against Foster.
Ennis, however, told Good Morning America that she lied when she recanted in order to protect Foster out of "love."
The Niners issued the following statement in response to Ennis' comments regarding the incident in Tampa: "The 49ers fully cooperated with authorities, assisted in locating Mr. Foster and in no way impeded their investigation."
Foster was initially charged in April in Santa Clara, Calif., with felonies for domestic violence, making criminal threats and weapons possession stemming from an alleged attack on Ennis. A judge ruled there was no probable cause on the first two charges after Ennis recanted the allegations and the judge found no other evidence to support the charges. The weapons charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and Foster pleaded no-contest to that in June.
Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement released Thursday that his office is exploring legal options in light of Ennis' new claims.
"We are sad, though, not surprised, and exploring the legal options. The cycle of domestic violence is frightening and frighteningly powerful. Every day, this office faces the challenges of keeping survivors safe and holding DV abusers criminally accountable. As we said when the judge dismissed the case against Mr. Foster: Our commitment to domestic violence survivors is unwavering."
The Redskinsclaimed Foster off waivers following his release in November and he currently is on the Reserve/Commissioner Exempt List where he will not be permitted to practice or play in games for Washington. When asked Thursday for comment, the Redskins referred NFL.com to their initial statement on Foster.
"He's on the Commissioner's Exempt List," Redskins coach Jay Grudne said Thursday, "and we're not even going to talk about Reuben right now."
