San Francisco 49ers DL Ray McDonald arrested for felony domestic violence

(Image credit: Twitter / @newsdamian)

last updated 8 January 2015

San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald was arrested and charged early Sunday morning with felony domestic violence. McDonald was having a birthday party at his home in San Jose when he allegedly got in an altercation with his fiancee, who is reportedly pregnant.

The arrest comes just three days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell instituted severe new penalties for domestic violence, saying in a letter to team owners he "didn't get it right" in suspending Ravens running back Ray Rice for only two games following his domestic violence arrest. Under the new policy, a first offense for domestic or sexual violence results in a six-game ban, while a second offense results in a lifetime expulsion from the league. The policy also says the punishments can be more severe based on mitigating circumstances, including if the victim is pregnant.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters