UPDATE (7:27pm PT on Sunday): Hours after the San Francisco Police confirmed they are searching for Aldon Smith, the edge rusher posted this to his Instagram account:
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San Francisco Police are searching for edge rusher Aldon Smith following a domestic violence incident on Saturday evening.
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SFPD confirmed that information to NBC Sports Bay Area on Sunday afternoon. Police responded to an alleged altercation, where the victim who suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The suspect, identified as Smith by police, fled the scene before officers arrived.
Smith is currently banished from the NFL as a repeat offender of the league’s substance abuse program. He last played in 2015 and represented the Raiders in nine games before commissioner Roger Goodell levied a stiff punishment.
He spent the previous four seasons with the 49ers. A first-round pick in 2011, Smith was a top-flight edge rusher in Santa Clara with 44 sacks iin red and gold.
NFL
He has been involved in several run-ins with the law, including a Aug. 2015 incident that got him released by the 49ers. He was charged with misdemeanor DUI, hit-and-run and vandalism.
He was suspended for the first nine games in 2014 for violating the substance abuse policy and the league’s personal conduct policy. He pleaded no contest to counts of possessing illegal assault weapons and for driving under the influence from a 2013 incident.
Smith signed a one-year contract in 2015 with Oakland and a two-year deal with the Raiders in 2016 despite his banishment, but hasn’t played a game under that deal. His contract reporedly did not toll in 2016, and he would be under contract with the Raiders should be be reinstated. At this point, though, that seems highly unlikely.
He applied for reinstatement in Oct. 2016, and was eligible to play the following month. Goodell has no reviewed that application, which stipulates he remain in good standing with the substance abuse policy.
Smith cooperated with a domestic violence incident in Feb. 2017, and was the passenger in an SUV that ran into an unmarked police car in San Francisco in March 2017. His then-girlfriend was driving in the SUV. Smith was detained by police, but released shortly after the incident.
Smith was in the news again last week, asking for a reduction in child support payments. Also, TMZ reported on Feb. 24 that he recently got engaged.
The SFPD Special Victims Unit would like to interview Smith regarding the Sunday domestic violence incident. They are also encouraging people with information on Smith’s whereabouts to contact the police department.
News of Smith being involved in a domestic violence incident was first reported by Bay Area radio personality Ted Ramey earlier on Sunday.