The woman who alleged Reuben Foster assaulted her this offseason has recanted her previous statements and says she can prove the injuries she sustained were not the result of any physical violence perpetrated by Foster.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area shared a statement on Wednesday from Elissa Ennis, the former girlfriend, via her lawyer Stephanie Rickard: “(Foster) did not strike her, injure her or threaten her,” Rickard said in the statement.
Previously, Ennis alleged Foster had dragged her by her hair, hit her between eight and 10 times and caused her eardrum to rupture. He has since been charged on multiple counts of felony assault.
According to her lawyer, the injuries she sustained were actually the result of a fight Ennis had with another woman. Furthermore, the lawyer says there is video proof to support this claim. The reason she accused Foster of assaulting her, she says, was out of spite.
“She was extremely upset and told him if he broke up with her she would ‘trash his career,’ ” Rickard said.
The San Francisco 49ers have to this point refused to make any long-term decisions about Foster’s place on the team. At this point, until the legal proceedings play out, Foster is not participating in any team activities.
General manager John Lynch said this week that if Foster was found to have hit Ennis he’d be off the team.
“We do feel like patience is the right approach right now, that we are going to learn things through this legal process,” Lynch said. “But I do want to be very clear, abundantly clear, that if these charges are proven true, that if Reuben did indeed hit this young lady, he won’t be part of our organization going forward.”
Previously, it was reported that Ennis had hired a lawyer and might not cooperate with the prosecution. Obviously that’s not happening now.