Dallas Cowboys’ Joseph Randle investigated in domestic violence case

After emerging from a season rocked with scandals, including domestic violence, child abuse and in-game cheating allegations, just days after the Super Bowl the NFL is facing its first off-season incident.

Kansas police said Friday that they are investigating Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle on allegations of domestic violence.

Randle, 23, was cited early Tuesday morning for marijuana possession at a hotel in Wichita after authorities were called to the scene on a report of domestic violence.

That citation has since been dropped, Wichita police told The Times, because of “false statements” originally given to authorities. But that is not the end of it.

“We are currently conducting an investigation and re-interviewing individuals who were there that night,” said Lt. James Espinoza, spokesman for the Wichita Police Department.

The additional investigation came after Dalia Jacobs, who has a child with Randle, told KWCH-TV, a CBS affiliate in Wichita, Thursday that she lied to police initially, calling the incident a misunderstanding. She has since filed a protection order and given a different account of the incident.

Jacobs now says Randle pulled a gun when she attempted to leave the hotel with their child and a friend, according to her TV interview.

She also said Randle threatened to shoot out the tires of the car she was in before he punched out one of the windows, getting glass on their son.

“I just couldn’t imagine seeing my son get shot by his own father,” Jacobs said in tears to KWCH-TV.

Jacobs said she stayed at the hotel until police arrived. A friend of Randle’s left with the gun, she said.

Espinoza said findings from the investigation will be presented to the district attorney.

“We at the Wichita Police Department take domestic violence very seriously,” Espinoza said.

This marks the second time in less than four months Randle has run into trouble with the law.

Randle was arrested in October on suspicion of shoplifting from a Dillard’s in Frisco, Texas. In that incident, he is accused of stealing cologne valued at $80 and underwear valued at $40, according to authorities.

Calls to the Dallas Cowboys for comment were not returned.

In Minneapolis on Friday, another high-profile case was back in the news.

Adrian Peterson and the NFL Players Assn. appeared in federal court to fight Peterson’s suspension handed down by the NFL in the beginning of the 2014 season.

Peterson did not play in a game after Week 2, when he was indicted by a grand jury in Texas on a felony charge of injury to a child. Peterson pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault on Nov. 4, believing he would be reinstated to play. He was not.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Peterson until at least April 15, 2015, for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The suspension was upheld by a third party arbitrator when Peterson appealed.

The player’s union criticized the decision, claiming the arbitrator was biased “given the hearing officer’s relationship and financial ties to the NFL.”

According to the Star Tribune, the judge in the current federal case could overturn the arbitrator’s decision, uphold the arbitration process, or send it back to arbitration.

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