Former Texas running back Joe Bergeron allegedly punched, pushed and slapped a female student last month, according to Texas A&M-Commerce University police incident report obtained by FOX Sports Southwest.
Police never contacted Bergeron, and he does not face any charges from the incident, A&M-Commerce athletic director Ryan Ivey said via telephone on Monday.
"What we uncovered and found to be accurate was that he was involved in an incident off-campus," Ivey said. "We don't believe that it was as severe as the incident report is."
Bergeron joined the A&M-Commerce football team after being dismissed from Texas in July.
The incident report says that shortly after midnight on Oct. 9, Bergeron encountered the alleged victim outside the Kappa Alpha fraternity house on campus. The alleged victim and Bergeron's respective groups of friends had been involved in an argument earlier in the evening at The Drunken Mule, a bar on Main Street in Commerce.
Outside the fraternity house, the alleged victim asked Bergeron to find his friend and leave the party because she believed he had caused the earlier argument.
Bergeron refused to leave and the alleged victim became angry, the report said. The alleged victim then claimed Bergeron placed his hand close to her face and said, '"B----, shut the f--- up! I was here first!"
Bergeron turned away from the alleged victim and ignored further demands to leave. She then "flicked" Bergeron's hat.
He immediately turned around and stated "If you touch me again, I'm going to punch you in the face."
The alleged victim told Bergeron he "could not treat a woman that way at this house" and again told him to leave. Bergeron ignored the alleged victim and her demands. She then knocked a cup from Bergeron's hand, which landed on the ground.
Bergeron then turned around and struck the alleged victim on the left side of her face with a closed fist, causing her pain, the report states.
Bergeron left the alleged victim and went into the house, but the alleged victim followed him and shouted about him striking her and stated it was "unacceptable." When she caught up to him, she again told him to leave. Bergeron then shoved her into a wall inside the house's entry way, "causing her back to strike against the brick," the report said.
The alleged victim then decided to "fight back," the report states. As she approached him, Bergeron slapped her with an open hand to the left side of her face at the same location he had previously punched her.
After the slap, multiple persons in the house forced Bergeron back outside and took the alleged victim to the back of the house.
FOX Sports Southwest first requested any police record of the incident via an open records request on Oct. 13. The request was initially denied, but TAMU-C police provided the incident report on Nov. 20.
Texas coach Charlie Strong dismissed Bergeron from the Longhorns for a violation of team rules in late July and Bergeron transferred to Texas A&M-Commerce in August. Bergeron rushed for 25 touchdowns and 1,392 yards in three seasons as a Longhorn.
Texas A&M Commerce coach Colby Carthel announced an "indefinite" suspension for Bergeron two days after the incident for "violation of team and department policy while the university conducts its investigation." He did not play in Texas A&M-Commerce's game on Oct. 11, but returned to the field a week later, rushing for 35 yards on 11 carries on Oct. 18. He has not missed any further time as a result of the incident.
Bergeron leads A&M-Commerce with 859 yards and 12 touchdowns on 148 carries this season.
Ivey said the athletic department and university both conducted investigations into the incident and he met with Carthel and made a joint decision on a week-long suspension from team activities after reviewing the results of the investigation.
"We talked to a number of people, those that were there, those that were outside of it," Ivey said. "We interviewed a number of people and just felt like what we did, the punishment fit his involvement."
No one in the house immediately reported the incident to police and Bergeron was not arrested. The alleged victim spent the night at the house out of concern for her personal safety.
The following morning, members of the fraternity contacted police. The alleged victim did not want to report the offense, but because she suffered an injury, fraternity members found it necessary.
The alleged victim told police she knew Bergeron was "a star running back on the football team" that "she felt nervous about reporting because she did not want her name out in public and did not want to be blamed by others if something happened to Bergeron," the report said.
The alleged victim was too nervous about being seen entering the Texas A&M-Commerce Police Department, so police agreed to meet with her inside the Kappa Alpha house, where she was accompanied by three fraternity members.
