Alabama player arrested again for domestic violence, but alleged victim recants

Alabama defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor was arrested Saturday night in Tuscaloosa on charges of domestic violence, according to the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

Update, 4/1: Taylor’s accuser has recanted her story and has been placed in county jail, per Al.com.

According to the media release, officers responded to a victim who went to the University of Alabama Police Department to report being assaulted by her boyfriend early Saturday evening. After interviewing the victim — who “had minor injuries to her neck from the assault” — police located Taylor at her residence and arrested him on charges of “Domestic Violence 3rd Degree Assault” and “Domestic Violence 3rd Degree Criminal Mischief.”

Alabama has dismissed Taylor:

Saban also said that he is “not apologizing” for recruiting Taylor:

Taylor’s arrival at Alabama in January was controversial. The talented defensive lineman had been arrested for aggravated assault in July 2014 while at Georgia, then was swiftly dismissed. And that wasn’t his first arrest while at Georgia, as he had been part of a quartet of Bulldogs arrested on charges of theft by deception for attempting to cash meal-reimbursement checks twice.

But while Taylor was still facing charges in Georgia, Alabama announced it had signed and admitted him in January, with athletic director Bill Battle delivering a lengthy statement on the decision:

”One of our priorities is to make every effort to help develop young people into well-adjusted, well-rounded people. In this particular situation, we thoroughly investigated numerous sources regarding the young man. I had extensive discussions with several people who have been very close to him, including a lengthy visit with this young man.

Our coaches and I feel he is worthy of a second chance at completing his college football career at this level, and that he fully understands the position in which he has placed himself.

All of us in the University community have a role in helping student-athletes reach their potential - in competition, in the classroom and in life. It’s important to note that the young man will become a part of our program after going through an extensive process conducted by the University.

“As one of our state’s most high-profile entities, we are acutely aware of our responsibility to the University, our student-athletes, our community and our state.”

Nick Saban, asked about the decision to recruit and admit Taylor on National Signing Day, spoke of the “ongoing process” of Taylor’s “personal development,” saying that Taylor had done a “very good job.”

Saban called it a “university decision” and stated that it was a “decision that got made by a lot of people here.”

“We recruited this young man out of high school, and we felt that from what we knew about him, what his high school coach said, what the people at the school that he was at said about him, and where he came from in junior college, that he was the kind of guy that deserved a second chance,” Saban said. “But with that chance, we also have stipulations of things that he needs to do from a personal development standpoint so that he won’t make any kind of mistake like this ever again.

“That’s an ongoing process with him, and that’s something that we continue to monitor, and he has done a very good job with.”

Earlier in the weekend, Alabama defensive back Geno Smith was charged for the second time with driving under the influence.