Bills' rookie Tyrel Dodson suspended 6 games for May domestic violence incident

The NFL has suspended Buffalo Bills rookie linebacker Tyrel Dodson six games under the personal conduct policy for an alleged domestic violence incident in May.

On Thursday, Dodson reached an agreement with prosecutors in Scottsdale, Arizona, to defer the domestic violence charges against him.

Dodson agreed to enter a diversion program and must also meet other conditions to have the charge cleared from his record. He’s scheduled to have a restitution hearing in November and has a sentencing hearing set for September 2020.

Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson has been suspended six games for a May domestic violence incident. (AP)
Buffalo Bills linebacker Tyrel Dodson has been suspended six games for a May domestic violence incident. (AP)

As part of the agreement, separate charges of assault and property damage were dropped.

According to the incident report, Dodson and his girlfriend got into an argument on May 25 while she was getting ready for work; he allegedly vomited on the carpet inside her bedroom and apologized, saying he had been drinking too much.

She told him to leave her alone and go into the living room; that’s when she alleges he began acting violently toward her, allegedly grabbing her “forcefully” and “shoving her against the wall.”

The girlfriend said she was scared and slapped Dodson in the face; he slapped her back, then began apologizing for hitting her, and she said he threatened to kill himself.

The girlfriend left the apartment, but said that when she returned Dodson was still there, so she locked herself in a bathroom and told him to leave. Dodson allegedly busted the door open, and it smacked the woman in the head, leaving a small welt.

Things escalated in the kitchen, where Dodson allegedly shoved the woman to the floor in a scuffle over her cell phone.

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They got so loud that a neighbor knocked on the door to check on the girlfriend.

The woman left the apartment again, but when she returned she claimed Dodson had stolen her car keys, $500 from her purse and several thousand dollars from a safe under her bed.

Dodson told police at the time of the incident that he did not assault his girlfriend, but admitted to a verbal argument and taking $1,000 from her because it was “money they both shared.”

However, police found probable cause to make an arrest, and did so at Mint Nightclub. As he was being removed from the club, he again denied attacking his girlfriend and showed police a red mark on his face, but Dodson never made an assault accusation.

He was arraigned on three misdemeanor charges: one count of domestic violence, one count of disorderly conduct and one count of damage to property.

Undrafted out of Texas A&M, Dodson has been on the reserve/commissioner’s exempt list since August 31.

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