Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton was accused of assaulting a woman he was dating, but she decided not to press charges, according to police reports obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Burton, who also faces eviction from his apartment, allegedly assaulted the woman on the morning of Dec. 30, several days before he was healthy for the Bengals’ Week 18 win over the Steelers. The woman suffered minor injuries but did not require medical attention. Investigators said Burton was suspected of consuming alcohol and also said force was involved.
Warning: the following includes graphic content that may be disturbing.
The woman called police and told them Burton met her at her apartment, chased her inside, damaged her phone and assaulted her, including choking her. Before leaving the apartment, the caller said Burton had a knife to his neck and threatened to kill himself.
“Jermaine Burton on the Bengals just broke into my house,” said the woman, who could be heard sobbing deeply. “He broke my phone. … He was pretty violent. He does a lot of things that I don’t tolerate.”
The woman said the two had gone out the night before and Burton became angry with her. They separated that evening, but Burton was waiting for her when she arrived home.
“He wouldn’t let me in. And he choked me (unintelligible) in the hallway,” she said. “He blocked the door so I couldn’t get in, and when I got in, he chased me upstairs. He broke into my house. He broke my phone. This is the second time he broke my phone in the last month.”
“He broke my phone. He hit me and left.”
The woman said both men had been drinking but she was not drunk at the time of the call. According to the report, the woman initially wanted to press charges before changing her mind.
“He walked into my dishwasher and grabbed a knife and held it to his neck,” she said on the call. “I don’t deserve this. I’m only 19.”
Buton, 23, caught just four passes for 107 yards during his rookie season. He was suspended during the year for missing a drill when it was supposed to be part of the team’s game plan. The Bengals defeated the Raiders anyway, with Burton watching from the sidelines.
While his talent has rarely been questioned, Burton’s level of maturity is. That’s one of the main reasons he fell to the Bengals in the third round of last year’s draft. Despite these questions, the Bengals still drafted Burton, who struggled on and off the field in his first game. NFL season.
