By Jon Machota and Matt Mosley
FOXSportsSouthwest.com
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was arrested Monday on a misdemeanor family violence charge in the southern Dallas suburb of DeSoto, Texas.
The charge, according to MyFOXDFW.com, stems from Bryant’s alleged assault on a female family member Saturday. Under Texas state law, family violence is defined an attack or "a threat" of imminent harm against a member of a family or household, according to The Associated Press. The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.
According to a DeSoto police report obtained Tuesday by the Dallas Morning News, Bryant's mother, Angela, said her son attacked her. Angela Bryant told police she and Dez got into an argument and he then grabbed her by her shirt, tearing it and her bra. Dez Bryant then pulled his mother’s hair and slapped her across the face with his ball cap, according to the report.
Dez Bryant, 23, turned himself in to police Monday and immediately posted a $1,500 bond.
Dallas radio station KESN (103.3-FM) obtained a recording of a call to 911 in which a woman identified as Angela Bryant says, “I can’t keep letting him do this. I’m putting an end to it today. I’m tired.”
Early in the recording, the caller can be heard saying, “He tried to kill me.”
During the 911 call, the woman, believed to be Angela Bryant, says her son tried to hit her with a ball. She adds that he left the house in a pearl white Cadillac Escalade with the license plate "Bail Me" on it.
When contacted by WFAA-TV, Bryant confirmed there was an incident but declined to elaborate.
"I'm good, I'm good," Bryant said.
Bryant's longtime adviser, David Wells, told FOXSportsSouthwest.com on Monday that he had been in contact with the wide receiver.
"Dez is very upset about how this happened," Wells said. "He's very remorseful. His intention is not to hurt anybody. I think we'll have a quick resolution and this situation will be resolved."
Texas state senator Royce West, a Dallas-based attorney who advises Bryant, said he was planning to meet with Wells to discuss the situation. West has spoken publicly on behalf of Bryant in the past.
Dallas Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple declined to comment to The Associated Press while the team gathered information.
This isn't the first run-in Bryant has had with the law. Since being drafted by the Cowboys in 2010, the Oklahoma State University product has been involved in multiple lawsuits concerning unpaid debts, was handed a criminal trespass warning in 2011 after being briefly banned from a Dallas mall and, in January 2012, was involved in an altercation outside a Miami nightclub that led to him being detained by police.
