Former Vikings player Cayleb Jones has pleaded not guilty to a charge he assaulted his girlfriend at a hotel in Eagan.
The 25-year-old wide receiver, who was cut by the Vikings ahead of the new season, pleaded not guilty to three charges in court on Thursday, including domestic assault, theft and interference with an emergency call.
The allegations against the Texas native were revealed in a criminal complaint in Dakota County, accusing Jones of shoving, throwing and kicking his girlfriend, with whom he lives in California.
They were staying at a hotel in Eagan, the home of the Vikings’ new training center, in late August when police were called to the fourth floor.
His girlfriend told police that during the course of their argument, Jones had picked her up and thrown her to the ground.
She picked up her stuff and left the room, only for the altercation to continue in the hallway, with Jones continuing to be physical, at one point kicking his girlfriend.
As she tried to call the police as she entered an elevator, Jones allegedly smacked the phone out of her hand, picked it up and ran off with it.
When police arrived, they found Jones’ girlfriend with rug burns on her left hand, knee and shin, a small scratch on the side of her leg and a broken nail.
Witnesses in the hotel told officers they’d heard loud noises coming from their room and the disturbance in the hallway.
Jones signed with the Vikings’ practice squad in 2016 and signed a reserves/futures contract with them in January 2017 and again this past January, before being cut ahead of the new season.
