Michael RothsteinOct 31, 2026, 02:34 PM ET
- Michael Rothstein, based in Atlanta, is a reporter on ESPN's investigative and enterprise team. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein.
The NFL said Saturday it will look into additional allegations of physical and verbal abuse by Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs that were revealed as part of a public records release from the Hobart/Lawrence Police Department.
The allegations, released Friday night in response to a public records request, show that three women alleged abuse by Jacobs to the department in incidents dating back to April 2021. The women came forward after learning of Jacobs' arrest in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident in May.
"We will review these allegations as part of the investigation which has remained open," the NFL said in a statement.
Along with the allegations made by the three women, police released reports from the investigation as well as body camera and police dash camera footage from Jacobs' arrest. He pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of battery and criminal damage to property.
"The Brown County District Attorney's office had these uncorroborated, old, and previously unreported allegations for months," Jacobs' attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff, Richard A. Schonfeld and Clarence F. Duchac III said in an emailed statement Saturday. "They conducted their own exhaustive investigation, along with the police department, and the D.A. determined that only two misdemeanor charges were warranted. They then entered into a plea agreement with Josh Jacobs. Josh has repeatedly expressed his remorse and is honoring the terms of the agreement."
In the 129-page report of the incident released Friday night -- some of which was heavily redacted -- the woman making the initial accusations against Jacobs told police he "looked like a different person" during the alleged battery and said he attempted to strangle or suffocate her two times. She told police it was the first time he had ever strangled or suffocated her.
In the report, police wrote she "described Joshua's demeanor as 'enraged' and said she thought she was going to die."
A 911 call from the May 23 incident released by police Friday evening showed yelling in the background by a male, but no one spoke with police before the line was disconnected. Police were then dispatched to the address about a possible disturbance.
The woman alleged the incident began when she accused Jacobs of speaking with other women. When the woman tried to leave the home, the report alleged Jacobs would initially not let her, broke her phone and eventually grabbed her by the neck in the garage and slammed her to the ground, hitting her head on the concrete floor and causing her to lose consciousness. When she woke up, the report claimed she told police it was hard for her to walk, she had blurry vision and she was "seeing dots/stars" in her vision.
The police department withheld some records, including surveillance video from the garage where part of the alleged incident occurred. Both Jacobs and the woman sued the police department to block the release of the records. In a letter explaining the withholding, the department said it "would have released the garage video, with the victim's entire body being pixelated," had it not been restricted from doing so.
After the incident, the woman went to a neighbor's home for help, according to the report.
Police interviewed two of the woman's friends who communicated with her by phone and text message in the hours following the incident about what occurred. The reports from the friends mirrored what the woman told police, although neither friend was present during the incident and based their statements on what the woman told them during those phone conversations. After Jacobs was arrested after a car he was a passenger in was pulled over on May 26, he told officers he didn't have identification on him and that he had already given his cell phone to his attorneys because he was planning on turning himself in.
As Jacobs arrived at the police station after being transported there by police, he was read his Miranda rights, and he told the arresting officer he did not want to make a statement until his lawyer arrived. Jacobs then proceeded to have a brief conversation with the arresting officer, according to footage released from the police car.
Jacobs: "In this situation, right, if I know I'm 100% didn't do anything wrong, what can I do in a situation to, like, you know, avoid it. To me, it's like, unfair, you know what I'm saying. So I don't really understand."
Officer: "It's up to your lawyer. He gets paid a s--- ton more than I do. He does his thing."
Jacobs: "I'm saying like legally, though, if I was to call, it wouldn't have made a difference and I would still be the one."
Officer: "Remember, these charges aren't set in stone. They are referrals."
Jacobs: "It's just what they think. OK."
Officer: "So there's a chance you could get convicted. There's a chance they could be dropped. These are referred to the [district attorneys] saying this is what we've got based upon our initial investigation. It's up to the DA and the judges to do what they want with it."
The officer then closed the door for a few moments before Jacobs was led out of the police car.
Source: ESPN · Michael Rothstein
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