Ex-Gators, current Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler arrested

No. 3 overall pick in 2015 NFL Draft faces battery, criminal mischief charges

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Former Florida Gators and current Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler was arrested Tuesday night in his hometown of St. Petersburg on misdemeanor charges of simple battery and criminal mischief.

Fowler, 22, was driving through an apartment complex in St. Petersburg when a man walking in the complex made a comment about Fowler's driving, police said.

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The third overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft got out of his car and exchanged words with the man, police said.

Fowler hit the man, knocked off his glasses and stepped on them, police said. He then took the man's grocery bag, with recently purchased liquor, and threw it in a lake, police said.

The man was not hurt.

A search of the Pinellas County jail records show that Fowler was released on a $650 cash bond.

The Jaguars said in a statement that the team is aware of Fowler's arrest and has been in contact with him.

Fowler missed his entire rookie season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament on the first day of mini camp. He recorded 32 tackles and four sacks last season.