Cowboys Rookie RB Ezekiel Elliott Accused of Domestic Assault

Image via Zimbio

This week has been a mixed bag for Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, selected No. 4 overall out of Ohio State at the 2016 NFL Draft in April. The week began with the announcement that Elliott led the league in jersey sales, and ended with him being accused of domestic assault.

According to multiple reports, the accuser, identified as Tiffany Thompson, claims to be the former live-in girlfriend of Elliott. The woman filed a report with the police in Columbus, Ohio, alleges Elliott assaulted her “multiple times” over the last week.

ESPN obtained the police reports filed Friday morning in Columbus and reported on the details.

Thompson described a specific incident of physical violence that took place in a parked car early Friday morning. She told police that the encounter with Elliott left her bruised and with pain in her right wrist, but declined any medical attention following the incident.

To back up her story, Thompson initially posted photos of injuries she alleges were the result of the beating she suffered at the hands of Elliott. She later deleted the account, though screen captures of the photos are still widely available.

For his part, Elliott is denying everything. Though he didn’t deny once having a relationship with Thompson, he insists the two of them never lived together. Elliott told police that the bruising seen in Thompson’s photos were not his doing, but rather the result of her involvement in a bar fight.

At this point Elliott has not been arrested or charged with a crime, largely because many of the details of Thompson’s story have not yet been substantiated. According to police, four witnesses at the scene of the alleged car assault have confirmed the two were in the vehicle together (along with one other person), none of whom observed a physical altercation.

Additionally, Thompson has thus far been unable to produce definitive proof of the three-month span of cohabitation. Elliott denied the pair ever lived together, only that he paid her rent for an undisclosed amount of time and co-signed on her vehicle.

Police are still investigating, and the case has been forwarded to the district attorney’s office for review.