Ben Baby, ESPN staff writer
CINCINNATI — Bengals wide receiver Jermaine Burton was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute in which he choked and punched his ex-girlfriend, according to a police incident report obtained by ESPN on Thursday.
On Dec. 30, Burton allegedly broke into the home of a woman he was dating at 1 a.m., hours after the two had gone out drinking, according to an 8 a.m. emergency call to Cincinnati police.
The 19-year-old woman told police that Burton strangled her in the hallway of her apartment building. She also said Burton broke into her residence, grabbed a knife from the dishwasher, held it to his neck and threatened to kill himself. She told police Burton then broke her phone and left.
The woman declined to press charges, according to a police incident report obtained by ESPN through a public records request. Burton’s agent did not respond to ESPN’s request for comment.
In a call to a police dispatcher, the woman told officers this was not an isolated incident.
“This is the second time in the past month that he has damaged my phone,” the woman said. “He broke my phone, hit me and then left.”
Due to a coaching decision, rookie Burton did not travel with the team for the regular season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, coach Zac Taylor confirmed after the game.
“We will continue to evaluate as we gather more details and will have no further comment at this time,” the Bengals said in a statement to ESPN on Thursday.
The woman told police they began seeing each other in September. However, she claimed Burton was “quite abusive”. She said in a phone call to police that the Dec. 30 incident was caused by her refusal to “show him an old tweet.”
She also told police that on December 21, the two were drinking at his residence when Burton allegedly pushed her down the stairs. Police were not notified at the time but cited a separate incident in which Burton threatened to harm himself.
Burton was a third-round pick out of Alabama. Even before the Bengals drafted him, Burton’s behavior was questioned. In 2022, a video posted on social media showed Burton hitting a woman in the head as she rushed the court after Tennessee’s win over Alabama.
“We talked to him about it just to get his perspective on it,” Taylor said last April. “We researched everyone we spoke to and made sure we understood every incident they were involved in.”
The latest incident comes after Burton’s former landlord served him an eviction notice on December 23 and filed a civil lawsuit against him for non-payment. The lawsuit also seeks $10,000 in damages “beyond normal wear and tear.”
Burton was coming off a disappointing rookie season. He performed well in the Week 9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders despite missing pregame drills despite being in the game plan days before the game, sources told ESPN at the time .
While he eventually became the team’s starting kick returner, his offensive prowess gradually diminished. In 14 games this season, he has four catches for 107 yards.
ESPN investigative reporter Paula Lavigne contributed to this report.
