Domestic violence charges against former Bucs wide receiver Antonio Brown have been dropped, and a warrant for his arrest has been recalled.
No word yet on why the Hillsborough County State Attorney dropped the charges, which stemmed from an altercation between Brown and the mother of his children back on November 28th at his South Tampa home.
The woman later asked that the charges be dropped, calling the arrest warrant "frivolous and demeaning."
Tampa Police later issued the following statement:
CHARGES DROPPED FOR ANTONIO BROWN
A warrant for the arrest of Antonio Brown on a charge of domestic violence is no longer active as of December 20, 2022.
The Tampa Police Department stands firmly in its decision to thoroughly investigate this case, taking the following steps to assist the victim of the alleged abuse:
- Multiple hours of on-scene interviews with the victim, gathering information related to the alleged domestic violence and identifying probable cause to charge Mr. Brown accordingly
- Contacting Child Protective Investigations (CPI) for the safety and well-being of the children involved, due to the children being present at the time of the incident and inappropriate communication between Mr. Brown and one of the juveniles
- Applied for a temporary risk protection order (RPO) for the safety of the victim due to comments she made regarding Mr. Brown's mental state and his possession of guns (RPO was later denied by a judge)
- Offered the victim services to the Spring of Tampa Bay, a shelter for domestic violence victims, allowing her and Mr. Brown to separate for the evening (the victim immediately refused services and instead made accommodations to reside at another location)
- Pursued and granted a warrant for Mr. Brown's arrest, repeatedly making attempts to arrest Mr. Brown at his home and arrange for Mr. Brown to turn himself in through his attorney
The Tampa Police Department continues to encourage anyone who is a victim of domestic violence to seek help by calling law enforcement or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 18007997233 for immediate assistance. We encourage local victims to also seek help through one of many resources in our community, including the Spring of Tampa Bay by calling or texting the 24-hour crisis hotline at 813-247-SAFE (7233).
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