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Derrius Guice choked girlfriend to unconsciousness, court documents allege

3 years 7 months 2 weeks ago Monday, August 10 2020 Aug 10, 2020 August 10, 2020 3:22 PM August 10, 2020 in News
Source: Washington Post, ESPN

BATON ROUGE- Court documents allege that former LSU running back Derrius Guice choked his girlfriend until she was unconscious in March.

The 23-year-old NFL player was released from the Washington Football Team on Aug. 7 following an arrest over allegations of domestic violence.

Guice choked the woman in his Ashburn home until she was unconscious. When she woke up, the former NFL player was crying and tapping her, according to the charging documents filed in Loudoun County General District Court on Monday.

The alleged victim told authorities that Guice pushed and pulled her by her hair during the encounter.

Following the violent incident in March, the woman was in a hurry to catch a flight at BWI and did not look in the mirror until she arrived at a layover in Chicago, according to the charging documents. She took photos of her injuries in a restroom at the airport, authorities report.

The court documents also state that she suffered bruising to her neck with colored spots on it.

Guice's attorney, Peter D. Greenspun, issued a statement on the incident on Friday, saying investigators failed to fully examine the allegations that took place months ago and denounced the team for releasing Guice "without a single question as to what occurred."

"Derrius will defend these charges in court, where a full vetting of the allegations will take place, in contrast to actions by local law enforcement and the Washington Football Team that assumed the worst, directly contradicting every sense of fairness and due process,” Greenspun said.

In addition to the domestic violence report in March, Guice's girlfriend told authorities the football player pushed her to the ground in his bathroom in February, which she says caused an injury to her left thumbnail. This caused the nail to eventually fall off because of a popped blood vessel.

Court documents state that the woman took photographs of the injuries from the Feb. 14 and Guice was charged with assault and battery.

The woman told authorities that on April 17, Guice pushed her to the ground outside of his home, which caused injuries that were not described in the court documents. She also reported her phone was thrown into the street and was shattered. She photographed her injuries but they were not described, according to the court documents.

Guice was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL draft after the Baton Rouge native starred in his hometown at LSU. He was set to begin his third NFL season before his arrest and release from the team on Friday, Aug. 7.

Washington Football coach Ron Rivera said it was his decision to immediately remove Guice from the team, saying it was based on what Rivera believed was in the best interest of the team.

“Anytime you have to release a young, talented football player, it’s always a tough decision,” Rivera said in a video conference with reporters. “But this type of circumstance, this type of situation, we take those allegations very, very seriously, and we had to make the decision going forward.”

Guice turned himself in at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center on Friday shortly after 5 p.m. and was charged with one count of felony strangulation, three counts of assault and battery, and one count of destruction of property.

Just before 7:30 p.m., Guice was handcuffed in the parking lot before being let inside. He was later released on a $10,000 bond.

His arrest came after three incidents were reported to the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland, where the alleged victim lives, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office reports. The sheriff's office learned of the accusations on July 22 and the investigation was coordinated by officials in both Loudoun and Montgomery counties.

Washington said it learned of the allegations on Thursday and immediately contacted the NFL. Team officials met with Guice and told him he was excused from the team while the club investigated the situation.

Rivera said Monday that "from what was learned later on, we made a decision" to release Guice.

“And if it was the right decision, we will benefit from it, and if it’s not, it will be on me,” Rivera said. “I will take full responsibility as we go forward to try and make sure we do things the right way, and we’ll go from there.”


Guice's first hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28.

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