Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs was charged Thursday with two Class A misdemeanors after prosecutors reviewed garage surveillance video that they said corroborated key parts of his girlfriend Ash Kaashh’s account of a May physical confrontation at his home.
The Brown County District Attorney’s Office filed counts of battery and criminal damage to property. Each carries a maximum penalty of nine months in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both. The charges come more than three months after Jacobs was arrested on a slate of allegations that included a felony.
Jacobs, 28, remains presumed innocent. His lawyers noted the filed charges “do not include domestic violence.” The Packers said they would cooperate with the NFL’s separate review. An initial court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 17.
Hobart-Lawrence police responded about 8:37 a.m. May 23 to a disturbance at Jacobs’ home in the Village of Hobart after a 911 open-line call that included yelling. Officers later located the woman at a neighbor’s house. She had visible redness on her face and neck and a bump on the back of her head, according to the criminal complaint.
She told investigators she had looked through Jacobs’ phone, seen messages with other women, and become upset. A struggle over phones followed. The pair left in separate vehicles and later returned. In the garage, she said, Jacobs grabbed her as she tried to leave, threw her to the ground so that she struck her head, took a second phone from her while she was on the floor, and later damaged it.
Investigators recovered the home’s surveillance system. Forensic review of the files took weeks and was completed in mid-to-late summer. The complaint states that garage-camera footage “corroborates the relevant portions” of the woman’s statement that would be expected to appear on video: the pair leaving and returning in vehicles, the garage altercation, Jacobs taking the phone while she was on the floor, and him appearing to damage the device about 40 seconds later. There was no footage from inside the house.
Jacobs was arrested May 26 and booked on recommended charges that included felony strangulation and suffocation plus misdemeanors for battery, criminal damage to property, and disorderly conduct, each with a domestic-abuse enhancer, plus intimidation of a victim. He was released the next day. District Attorney David L. Lasee said at the time that arrest requires only probable cause, while charging requires admissible evidence that can meet the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard. His office requested more investigation because additional evidence — specifically the video files — might affect whether charges were appropriate and which ones.
Wisconsin law generally requires an arrest when officers have probable cause of a domestic-abuse crime. Charging is a separate, higher-bar decision. The garage video supported the battery allegation (throwing the woman to the ground and causing injury) and the property-damage allegation (the phone). It did not capture events inside the residence, where more serious claims such as strangulation would typically have to be proven. Prosecutors ultimately did not file the felony or attach domestic-abuse enhancers to the two counts they did file.
Lasee said Thursday his office “sought to ensure a fair and complete review of available evidence, some of which only recently became available to our office due to significant, ongoing forensic efforts by law enforcement.” A complaint, he added, is an accusation and does not imply guilt. The office declined further comment while the case is pending.
Jacobs’ attorneys — David Z. Chesnoff, Richard A. Schonfeld and Clarence F. Duchac III — said the district attorney “has reviewed evidence and elected to file misdemeanor charges against Josh that do not include domestic violence. The allegations will be addressed in court, and not in the media.” Jacobs has previously denied the original allegations.
Flip the pages for photos of Ash Kaashh.
