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Jaguars DE Dante Fowler arrested in St. Petersburg

The Jaguars DE is facing simple battery and criminal mischief charges after an incident involving a 55-year-old man.

Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler was arrested on charges of simple battery and criminal mischief, just one week before the beginning of training camp.

The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office jail log shows Fowler was arrested just after 9 p.m. in St. Petersburg Tuesday night. He was released after posting $650 bond on the two charges at 1:43 a.m.

The incident occurred in an apartment complex parking lot where the 2015 first-round pick was driving through. Deputies said Fowler got into a verbal altercation with a man in the parking lot. The man had made a comment about Fowler's driving, according to an arrest report.

Deputies said Fowler hit the man, knocked off his glasses, and stepped on them. He then took the victim's recently purchased grocery bag, including liquor, and threw it into a lake. The victim was not hurt.

Both of Fowler's charges are misdemeanors.

According to Miami-Dade County court records, Fowler was charged with assault of a police officer and resisting arrest in March 2016.

Those charges were eventually dropped in December 2016 because Fowler went through a pretrial program, according to court records.

A Jaguars spokesperson said the team would not comment on a closed case.

Fowler has a history of traffic violations, at least eight since December 2015, spread between Alachua, Duval, and Pinellas, according to county records.

Bradford County records show that Fowler had two additional violations this year.

The team consistently hammered home Fowler’s immaturity issues during press conferences last season. He drew the ire of former Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley and current defensive coordinator Todd Wash last season on a few occasions due to penalties.

However, Wash changed his tune shortly after the completion of the offseason program in June.

“Dante has matured a lot,” Wash said. “You [saw] him a little more and more as the season went on last year. He is more focused on the little details. He is definitely here early in the building a lot more. You just see a young man mature, which is really good to see because he is a good football player.”

While Fowlers’s maturity on the field was evident to the staff during the offseason program, these charges may offer a different outlook on the player off-the-field.

The Jaguars released a statement shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

The Jaguars are aware of the situation involving defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. and are currently gathering more information. The team has been in communication with Dante. No further comment will be made at this time.

Fowler missed his entire rookie season with a torn ACL. He appeared in all 16 games last season and produced 32 tackles, four sacks, and five pass breakups.

The Jaguars hedged their bets at the defensive end position this offseason. Along with returning sack leader, Yannick Ngakoue, the team has added Pro Bowl defensive end, Calais Campbell, third-round pick Dawuane Smoot, and special teams ace Lerentee McCray to the fold.

Follow Mike Kaye on Twitter at @Mike_E_Kaye.

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