Bills' Tyrell Dodson Suspended Six Games For Domestic Abuse

The NFL handed a six-game suspension to Bills rookie linebacker Tyrell Dodson on Thursday for violating the league’s personal conduct policy following a domestic violence arrest in late May. The suspension came just one day after he came to an agreement with prosecutors to “defer a domestic violence charge of disorderly conduct-disruptive behavior-fighting,” according to the Associated Press.

Details of the incident which led to Dodson’s arrest emerged in June, when audio of his girlfriend’s 9-1-1 call was released. In addition to accusations that the linebacker had hit her across the face, and stolen keys and money from her, she added that she felt compelled to jump out of the patio of her apartment and run to a nearby gas station to get away from Dodson. She told the emergency operator that over $10,000 was stolen from a safe, while the rookie claimed he only took $1,000.

Dodson is working to have this charge cleared, so he’ll reportedly have to enter a diversion program, and meet other conditions (unspecified in the AP report) in order to do so. Assault and property damage charges were dropped as part of his agreement with prosecutors. A restitution hearing is scheduled for November, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 2020.

An undrafted rookie out of Texas A&M, Dodson was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list on Aug. 31 as the Bills made their final cuts for the regular season. The Bills are not planning any punishment from their end as a team investigation found “no credible evidence” that domestic violence occurred, Buffalo GM Brandon Beane told the Associated Press. Also helping Dodson’s case with the team was apparently the fact that he had no prior history of legal trouble.

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