Ex-NFL star Warren Sapp charged in Las Vegas with domestic abuse

[June 26, 2015]  (Reuters) - National Football League Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp was charged in Las Vegas on Thursday with three counts of domestic abuse, according to court records, just months after his arrest for soliciting a prostitute.

The misdemeanor domestic battery charges were filed against Sapp in Las Vegas Justice Court and a summons was issued in lieu of his arrest, according to the court's website.

The Clark County District Attorney's Office told the Las Vegas Sun newspaper the charges stemmed from an April 28 fight between Sapp and his girlfriend of five years, Chalyce Moore.

Moore told police Sapp bit her finger and stepped on her face over an argument that started at the pool area of the M Resort Spa Casino.

Sapp's attorney, Craig Mehrens, told Reuters on Wednesday night that Sapp "absolutely denies" the charges.

In May, Sapp pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of soliciting a prostitute and assault at a Phoenix hotel the morning after the Super Bowl in February.

Sapp was in Phoenix to cover the event as an analyst for the NFL Network when he was arrested following an apparent dispute over money with two women. He was fired by the network after the incident.

The plea agreement spared him jail time. A staff attorney for the city of Phoenix said last month that Sapp had completed a prostitution-related class and had that charge dismissed. It was not clear if the assault charge had been dismissed as well.

Sapp played 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in

2013. He had 96.5 sacks in his career and was the cornerstone of the defense that played a major part in the Buccaneers' Super Bowl win in 2003.

(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Alan Raybould)

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