Jonathan Taylor dismissed after domestic violence arrest

Alabama dismissed defensive lineman Jonathan Taylor from the team Sunday after he was arrested on domestic violence charges in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The 6-foot-4, 335-pound Taylor, who has a history of domestic violence issues, was arrested Saturday night and charged with third-degree assault and domestic violence third-degree criminal mischief, according to the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

“This will still need to go through the legal process, but when he was given an opportunity here, it was under strict guidelines and we made it clear there was a zero-tolerance policy,” coach Nick Saban said in a statement.

Police were called to a residence near campus by a 24-year-old woman who said she was assaulted. After speaking with her and with Taylor, officers determined that there was probable cause to arrest him. The alleged victim had minor injuries to her neck and a hole was punched in a bedroom closet door at the scene.

Taylor was held on a $1,000 bond. He was subject to a mandatory 12-hour domestic violence hold.

Taylor, a transfer from Georgia, was charged last July with felony aggravated assault and family violence after he allegedly hit his girlfriend with a fist and choked her while arguing. He was subsequently dismissed from the Bulldogs’ football program. The case is still pending.

In a separate incident while at Georgia last March,Taylor was arrested for theft by deception after four football players attempted to cash meal reimbursement checks twice.

Taylor left Georgia for Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College last fall and then enrolled at Alabama in January.

Saban and athletic director Bill Battle defended signing Taylor despite a public backlash, saying he deserved another chance.

“We recruited this young man out of high school,” Saban said in February. “We felt that what we knew about him, what his high school coaches said about him, from what people at the school he was at said about him and where he came from in junior college that he was the kind of guy that deserved a second chance.

“But with that chance we also have stipulations and things that he needs to do from a personal-development standpoint so that he won’t make any kind of mistake like this again. That’s an on-going process with him. That’s something that we continue to monitor, and it’s something he’s done a very good job with.”