49ers releasing Reuben Foster after domestic violence arrest

The San Francisco 49ers said Sunday they plan to release linebacker Reuben Foster after he was arrested at the team hotel in Tampa, Florida, on a domestic violence charge.

An arrest report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office said Foster was booked into jail at 11:11 p.m. Saturday and released Sunday on $2,000 bail. Foster was arrested by Tampa police at 9:10 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt hotel where the team was staying before playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“He was really taking some very positive steps and maturing in a really nice fashion,” general manager John Lynch told reporters before the game. “Unfortunately in life there’s consequences for your actions. When you show bad judgment, particularly after something has been communicated very clearly what the expectations are, there are consequences.”

Foster will be placed on waivers officially on Monday. The other 31 teams will have an opportunity to claim him, although the NFL could place him on the commissioner’s exempt list if he is signed. Spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is reviewing the matter.

The 24-year-old Foster was charged with one count of first-degree misdemeanor domestic violence. Tampa Police spokeswoman Janelle McGregor said a woman told police that Foster slapped her phone out of her hand, pushed her in the chest area and slapped her with an open hand on the left side of her face. McGregor said officers observed a 1-inch scratch on the accuser’s left collarbone.

McGregor said officers learned that Foster had lived with the woman in the past and had been involved in an on-and-off relationship with her over the past three years. Police later confirmed the woman was Elissa Ennis, who had accused Foster of hitting her in February but later recanted the allegations.