Kansas police drop drug charges against Dallas Cowboys player Randle

[February 07, 2015]  By Lisa Maria Garza
 
 DALLAS, Texas (Reuters) - Authorities have dropped drug charges against Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle, who was arrested this week for suspected marijuana possession in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, police said on Friday.

Wichita police said they responded to a domestic violence call at a hotel in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday and found Randle, 23, with a small amount of marijuana.

After reviewing witness statements, police said there were inconsistencies and determined that more people needed to be interviewed. Randle could be charged again with possession of an illegal substance when the investigation is completed, according to police spokesman Lieutenant James Espinoza.

Separately, the woman who says she is the mother of a child with Randle and was with him at the time of the incident in Wichita, asked a court on Wednesday for a restraining order against him, expressing fear that he might attack her, court documents showed.

The Cowboys have not commented on the incident.

Randle’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, was not immediately available for comment on the dropped charges but previously said no violence occurred during the incident, which he said resulted from Randle asking three people to leave his hotel room.

In October, Randle was arrested for stealing a two pairs of underwear and a small bottle of cologne from a Dallas-area department store. The Cowboys said they fined him $29,117 for the shoplifting offense.

Randle rushed for 343 yards on 51 attempts for the Cowboys this past season, scoring three touchdowns.

(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Will Dunham)

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