Police Report Indicates 49er Ray McDonald's Fiancee Grabbed Handgun During Previous Disturbance
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A police synopsis of an incident weeks prior to the arrest of San Francisco 49ers defensive lineman Ray McDonald apparently involved his fiancee holding a gun at her side, according to a police report.
San Jose Police on Thursday released the synopsis of the event at the couple's home on Bentley Ridge Drive in San Jose on May 25.
According to the synopis:
An engaged couple (a male and female subject) were in an argument when the female subject became upset, grabbed a firearm (handgun) registered to the male subject, and held it at her side. When the male subject informed the female subject that he was going to call 911, the female subject put the firearm away and fled without incident. The female subject did not make any threats or point the gun at the male subject.
The report did not list the names of McDonald or his fiancee.
McDonald was arrested on August 31 for alleged domestic violence after police said officers found bruises on his fiancee. He has not been charged in the case and his initial hearing on the matter was postponed earlier this week.
"This May incident could be the building blocks of Mr. McDonald's defense," criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Steven Clark told KPIX 5. He said what police said happened in May will surely be a factor if McDonald is charged.
"In other words, f he says he was acting in August in self-defense, he can point to the May incident to give credibility to his claims that the bruises were done only in self-defense," Clark said.
Kathleen Krenek, director of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence in San Jose takes a different view. "Supposedly, she didn't make a threat and the gun remained at her side. That doesn't sound like a person who is going to attack and shoot someone else," she said.
Krenek sees the may incident as proof that the fiancee was not the aggressor. "To me that seems like a person who just doesn't want that gun used on her," Krenek said.
The 49ers have allowed McDonald to play pending the outcome of the investigation.