Ex-Cowboys RB Joseph Randle arrested for fifth time in 17 months

ESPN logo
Sunday, February 21, 2016

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle has been arrested for the fifth time in 17 months.

Randle, 24, was booked into the Sedgwick County (Kansas) Jail at 8:03 a.m. CT Sunday on charges of aggravated battery, possession of hallucinogens/marijuana and criminal damage to property. Bond was set at $100,000.

Earlier this month, Randle was arrested on an outstanding warrant in Irving, Texas. According to police, Randle had stopped at his ex-girlfriend's home around 3 a.m. local time, but residents of the home turned him away and called police. He was stopped, and the outstanding warrant was discovered.

The Cowboys released Randle in early November last year. Randle was suspended four games by the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy one week after he was released by the Cowboys. He was already away from the team to deal with unspecified personal issues when he was released. As a third-year player in Dallas, Randle started the first six games last season.

Also in November 2015, he was arrested and booked on suspicion of criminal threat, assault of a law enforcement officer, battery, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and interference with a law enforcement officer after an altercation at a Kansas casino.

Randle also was arrested in February 2015 in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, though police declined to pursue charges against the running back after a domestic disturbance complaint. Randle was also detained on a shoplifting charge in October 2014 at a Dallas area mall when police said he tried to take a bottle of cologne and a pack of underwear from a department store. He received deferred adjudication in the case.

Randle's abrupt dismissal from the Cowboys was partially due to his involvement in sports gambling, according to a report by the Dallas Morning News. In a text to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Randle said there was "no truth at all" to reports of his sports gambling.

The Cowboys wanted him to get counseling to help him deal with his off-the-field issues and he refused, two sources have told ESPN's Jean-Jacques Taylor. The team believed it had no choice but to release Randle because it couldn't trust him, the sources said.