A Hamilton County judge has dismissed misdemeanor charges against Bengals running back Joe Mixon after the prosecutor’s office requested to so on Friday.
An arrest warrant for Mixon was issued on Thursday on a charge of aggravated menacing stemming from an incident officials say occurred in late January. However, Judge Curt Kissinger dismissed the case against Mixon at the behest of the prosecutor’s office, which said that it would need an “additional investigation before we would move forward in this case,” according to WCPO Cincinnati’s Taylor Nimmo.
The prosecutor’s office said that the Cincinnati Police Department was able to contact the woman who reported the incident, and that she understood the need to dismiss the case at this time. If she wants to go forward with a case in the future, she will have the option to re-file charges against Mixon, according to the prosecutor and the judge.
The woman told police that on Jan. 21 the 26-year-old Bengals player pointed a gun at a her and told her, “You should be popped in the face. I should shoot you now. The police can’t get me,” according to Cincinnati’s FOX 19 Now.
Shortly after news of the arrest warrant emerged, Mixon’s agent, Peter Schaffer, told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that the misdemeanor charges were expected to be dropped on Friday.
“It was a rush to judgment,” Schaffer said, per Pelissero. “They’re dropping the charges first thing in the morning. I really feel that police have an obligation before they file charges—because of the damage that can be done to the person’s reputation—to do their work. They should be held to a higher standard. Because I don’t play with people’s lives.”
The Bengals also released a statement Thursday regarding the incident, which was alleged to have taken place the day before the Bengals beat the Bills in the AFC divisional-round matchup in Buffalo.
“The club is aware misdemeanor charges have been raised against Joe Mixon,” the statement read, via ESPN’s Ben Baby. “The club is investigating the situation and will not comment further at this time.”
Mixon previously was suspended during college after he was seen on video punching a woman in 2014 and later was charged with a misdemeanor. He was sued by the woman in civil court for negligence, willful and wanton misconduct and intentional infliction of emotional distress, but a majority of the lawsuit was thrown out by a judge. He later admitted it was a “bad decision” and that the incident “haunts” him every day.
