Florida WR Chris Thompson charged with misdemeanor battery (dating violence)

Florida Gators junior wide receiver Chris Thompson was charged with misdemeanor simple battery (dating violence) by Gainesville police for an incident that occurred with his former girlfriend on April 1.

According to the arrest report from the Gainesville Police Department, Thompson and the alleged victim “were in an intimate dating relationship that ended approximately four months ago.”

Thompson allegedly “scratched” the victim’s “neck and arms, causing lacerations” when he tried to retrieve his phone from her after she took it away during an argument about a text message he received from another woman.

The charge against Thompson were first reported by The Gainesville Sun‘s Robbie Andreu.

Thompson has missed a couple of Florida spring football practices since the incident though no reasoning for his absence was previously disclosed by head coach Jim McElwain. On Thursday, McElwain said he has been “excused” from the team (not suspended) until the situation is resolved.

“Chris obviously had an incident here sometime last week. He’s dealing with that and has been excused from what we’re doing right now until it’s resolved. That’s kind of how we’re dealing with it. We’ll find out as it goes forward, find out what goes on with it,” he said.

The player’s charge is the first legal incident to occur under McElwain since he was hired in December 2014.