Troubled former Cowboys RB Joseph Randle arrested on suspicion of rape
Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle, whose NFL career ended suddenly due to his off-field legal issues, was arrested Friday on suspicion of rape.
The Associated Press reported Randle was booked into Sedgwick County Jail in Kansas about 3:40 a.m. Friday.
The AP said spokespeople for the police and prosecutor’s office and Randle’s attorney from previous cases did not immediately reply to phone messages. Randle has been in consistent trouble with the law for years.
Joseph Randle’s legal issues started with theft in 2014
In 2014, Randle was still a member of the Cowboys when he was arrested for shoplifting underwear and cologne from a Dallas-area mall. He was charged with a misdemeanor theft, and received probation.
The strange and relatively minor nature of that story drew embarrassing headlines. As it turns out, it was the first public legal incident of many to come, and most of them were of a much more serious nature.
In 2015, police were called to respond to a domestic violence call that involved Randle. He was charged with marijuana possession after that call, but that charge was dropped. He wasn’t charged in the domestic violence incident due to lack of evidence.
The issues kept piling up. Later in 2015, during the NFL season, Randle was arrested on an outstanding speeding warrant. The Dallas Morning News said his arrests, and erratic behavior that included reportedly betting on sports, caused the Cowboys to cut the young running back in November of 2015.
His football career was over after 35 games, which spanned three seasons with Dallas. He had more legal trouble to come.
Randle has spent most of the past two years in jail
The AP said Randle has spent most of the last two years in jail with occasional stints in a state mental hospital. According to KARE, Randle was sentenced to probation in June for aggravated battery, aggravated burglary, criminal threat, aggravated burglary and marijuana possession after striking three people with his car as he left a house party Wichita in 2016. The AP reported that Randle was released on probation in June under a plea agreement that allowed prosecutors to seek to put him in prison if he got in trouble again.
Randle, who is 26 years old, was held on $500,000 bond according to KARE.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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