Suspended Raiders LB Aldon Smith sought by police for alleged domestic violence incident

ByPaul Gutierrez ESPN logo
Monday, March 5, 2018

Suspended Oakland Raiders linebacker Aldon Smith is being sought by San Francisco police in connection with an alleged domestic violence incident Saturday night in San Francisco.

"The victim suffered non-life-threatening injuries," according to a police statement provided to the San Jose Mercury-News. "The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival and was identified as professional football player Aldon Smith, a 28-year-old Oakland resident."

The statement said that officers arrived around 8:30 p.m. at a residence on Bush Street after receiving the call of a domestic violence incident.

Smith, a first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2011 and one-time first-team All Pro, has had numerous run-ins with the law.

He was arrested on suspicion of DUI in January 2012, a charge that was later reduced to reckless driving.

He faced three felony weapons charges stemming from a June 2012 party at his home. Police said several shots were fired, two partygoers were injured, and Smith was stabbed. Smith pleaded not guilty, and the weapons charges were later reduced.

Smith was arrested and charged with DUI again after a car crash in September 2013. He voluntarily entered rehab and missed five games that season. In July 2014, Smith was sentenced to 11 days of work release for that DUI and was later suspended nine games by the NFL for the incident.

Smith was again arrested in April 2014 at Los Angeles International Airport. Police said he was randomly selected for a secondary screening and became uncooperative, telling a TSA agent that he had a bomb. No charges were filed in that incident.

He was sentenced to 20 days in jail after pleading no-contest to a hit-and-run charge from an incident on Aug. 6, 2015, for which he was charged with driving under the influence for the third time.

The 49ers released him in the wake of that incident, and the Raiders signed him.

Smith played nine games for Oakland in 2015, with seven starts, and had 3.5 sacks. But the NFL, in reaction to his numerous brushes with the law and the league's substance abuse policy, suspended Smith for a year on Nov. 17, 2015, and has yet to reinstate him. The team can have no contact with Smith, who has continued to have legal problems.

On the weekend of Feb. 11, 2017, Smith's name appeared in a report taken by SFPD from a domestic-related investigation, according to TMZ Sports, but no arrests were made.

On March 10, 2017, Smith was again detained by SFPD when he was a passenger in a car that ran into a police cruiser. He was released without any charges.

The Raiders, who signed Smith to a two-year contract extension that would not have paid him unless he was reinstated and played before the 2016 season, did not respond to calls for a comment.