FILE - In this Aug. 2, 2013, file photo, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald looks on during …
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Former San Francisco 49er defensive tackle Ray McDonald
was charged with domestic violence and false imprisonment in connection
with allegations he assaulted his ex-fiancee while she held their
2-month-old child, prosecutors said Thursday.
McDonald was also charged with child endangerment
and violating a court order, the Santa Clara County district attorney's
office said. The false imprisonment charge is a felony while the other
counts are misdemeanors. He was arraigned on Thursday but did not enter a plea. He is due back in court in August. Calls to McDonald's attorney, Steve Defilippis, were not immediately returned. Prosecutors
said police responded to a domestic disturbance at a home around 4 a.m.
on May 25 and found McDonald had broken into the woman's bedroom and
assaulted her while his driver tried to stop him and she tried to get
away. McDonald cornered the
woman in a dining room and trapped her there before she told
investigators he chased her into a bathroom and repeatedly bumped her
while trying to grab her cellphone, according to investigators. It
continued in the bedroom, where the woman said McDonald jabbed at her
head with a finger and tried to pull her off the bed. Part of the
incident was caught on cellphone video the woman took.
FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014, photo, San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald (91) … McDonald eventually left the scene, but then returned as police
were interviewing the woman, whom authorities haven't identified,
before his driver sped away, prosecutors said. McDonald's
mom, LaBrina McDonald, told KNTV in San Jose it was a ''simple argument
that got blown out of proportion,'' and the charges were ''political.'' McDonald
was arrested later that morning. He was arrested again two days later
when police and the woman arrived at the home to find McDonald there in
violation of a restraining order, prosecutors said. Defilippis
told the San Jose Mercury News at the time that neither he nor his
client had been notified about the restraining order. Citing a pattern of behavior and off-field issues, the 49ers released McDonald on Dec. 17. He was released by the Chicago Bears after his May 25 arrest. FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2014, file photo, San Francisco 49ers' Ray McDonald sits on the bench du … The 49ers let McDonald go
just a month after Santa Clara County prosecutors declined to file
charges against him in a separate domestic violence investigation
stemming from an arrest on Aug. 31 while celebrating his 30th birthday
at his home. Prosecutors cited
conflicting versions of what happened, a lack of verifiable
eyewitnesses and a lack of cooperation by the alleged victim, McDonald's
then-fiancee, in explaining their decision. In June, a judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit McDonald filed against a woman who accused him of rape. McDonald says security camera footage will show a consensual sexual encounter occurred in his hot tub. Police
say the woman doesn't recall any sexual encounters and reported
blacking out after drinking alcohol and falling at McDonald's home. She
said she went to police after waking up naked next to McDonald.
The Santa Clara County district attorney is looking at the case.
