Arizona’s Jonathan Dwyer arrested in domestic assault case

Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault for two incidents that involved a 27-year-old woman and his 18-month-old child at his home in July, Phoenix police said Wednesday afternoon.

Dwyer was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault causing a fracture, aggravated assault involving a minor, criminal damage, stopping someone from using the phone during an emergency and assault, police said.

The Cardinals deactivated Dwyer Wednesday.

The incidents were reported Sept. 11, and authorities have been investigating since that time, police said.

After Dwyer was arrested and booked into jail, authorities issued a search warrant for his home, police said.

The victims in the case were not named.

The Arizona Cardinals took action before a news conference on the issue began.

“Given the serious nature of the allegations, we have taken the immediate step to deactivate Jonathan from all team activities,” the team said in a statement. “We will continue to closely monitor this as it develops and evaluate additional information as it becomes available.”

Dwyer was being held at the Maricopa County jail as of 5:30 p.m., and was declining any and all requests to be interviewed by the media, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office said on Twitter.

He was released on bond overnight, the Sheriff’s office said. A spokesman for the county’s prosecuting attorney said formal charges might be filed on Friday.

Dwyer’s arrest was the latest in an unrelenting string of bad news for the NFL as it continues to try to climb out of the shadow of the Ray Rice controversy.

The Minnesota Vikings, after receiving backlash for the decision to allow Adrian Peterson to rejoin the team following his indictment on child abuse charges, announced Wednesday they had decided to indefinitely bar their star running back from team activities.

Roughly an hour before the news of Dwyer’s detainment and eventual arrest in the alleged assault, the Carolina Panthers announced defensive end Greg Hardy was taking a voluntary leave of absence from the team as he appeals a conviction on charges he assaulted his ex-girlfriend in March.

Dwyer, in his fifth NFL season, has been the backup to Andre Ellington. He spent his first four seasons in the league with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL officials did not respond to request for comment.

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