The Columbus, Ohio, city attorney's office will not prosecute Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott for domestic battery. Tiffany Thompson, Elliott's ex-girlfriend, had accused the former Ohio State star of injuring her on at least five previous occasions.
Early on the morning of July 22, Thompson called Columbus police. Elliott, she told the cops when they arrived, had assaulted her in a parking in the midst of his 21st birthday party. Thompson showed the police bruises that she said Elliott had given her over the course of a week. Elliott told cops that Thompson acquired her injuries in a bar fight. Witnesses at the scene told police that they hadn't seen Elliott assault Thompson, so Elliott wasn't arrested, according to Columbus police.
As details from two police reports filed by Thompson emerged — she'd told police she'd previously lived with Elliott, something Elliott denied, and listed her occupation as "sex slave" on the reports — Cowboys officials and Michael Irvin, who said he spoke with Elliott, claimed that Elliott had text messages indicating that Thompson was accusing Elliott to seek revenge after a breakup.
"The actual evidence in this matter clearly indicates what the real motivation was behind the police being called," Elliott's dad Stacy Elliott said in a statement put out by the Cowboys. "We are confident that when the truth comes to light it will reveal the falsity of these claims."
After the initial pushback, Elliott and the team went radio silent.
"I'm not going to comment on anything regarding any legal matters, but I'm glad to talk about football,” Elliott said, again and again at his first training camp press conference.
After police declined to arrest Elliott in the parking lot, Thompson took her case to the city attorney's office, which conducted its own investigation.
"Witness statements, police reports, and medical records were acquired. Photographs of text messages and visible injuries were taken. Upon completion of the initial investigative phase, the complaint was evaluated by a prosecutor. The evaluation called for follow up with several witnesses and a closer examination of all the evidence presented," the office said in a press release issued Tuesday.
Attorneys for Elliott contacted prosecutors, according to the city attorney's office, and provided additional evidence, including witness statements and photographs, although Elliott himself did not speak with the city attorney.
In the end, the City Attorney Richard Pfeiffer did not feel that there was enough supporting evidence for Thompson's claims to move forward.
"After reviewing the totality of the evidence, the City Attorney’s Office, Prosecutor Division is declining to approve criminal charges in this matter for any of the 5 alleged incidents. This is primarily due to conflicting and inconsistent information across all incidents resulting in concern regarding the sufficiency of the evidence to support the filing of criminal charges," his office said.