LB Nicholson arrested on domestic violence charge

Bengals second-year linebacker A.J. Nicholson was arrested at 3:10 p.m. Friday and is being processed at the Kenton County jail on a domestic violence assault charge.

Taylor Mill police arrested Nicholson after he allegedly punched a woman in the eye at his apartment in the Farm Apartments complex on Old Taylor Mill Road, Taylor Mill Police Chief Steve Knauf said.

Police receiver a 911 call from the woman, who said she had been assaulted. She was in Nicholson’s apartment, but he was not there when the officer arrived.

Officer Roberts saw the injury to the woman’s eye, which was consistent with her statement, Knauf said.

Later, “He winds up at our police department, and the officer who responded the call was there. She placed him under arrest,” Knauf said.

The woman did not want to press charges, but Kentucky law allows police to make an arrest and press charges if they have evidence, the chief said.

Nicholson is being held at this hour at the Kenton County Detention Center and awaiting pre-trial services to set bond.

Nicholson is being charged with fourth degree assault. It is a misdemeanor. Punishment can be up to 12 months in jail and-or a $500 fine.

The Bengals’ policy is not to comment on ongoing legal situations involving a player, public relations director Jack Brennan said this afternoon.

This brush with the law is not the first for Nicholson since he was drafted by the Bengals in April 2006.

Nicholson was one of nine Bengals players previously arrested since Jan. 1, 2006. He avoided jail time in Tallahassee, Fla., but had to serve 60 days in a sheriff’s work program and go on probation for two years for breaking into the apartment of a former Florida State teammate.

Nicholson and an accomplice stole electronics worth $1,700 from the apartment in May 2006, less than a month after the Bengals drafted Nicholson in the fifth round.

He pleaded no contest to burglary and grand theft charges in February 2007.

Nicholson and the accomplice took electronic equipment and other items from the apartment of former Seminoles teammate Lorenzo Booker and his two roommates, according to authorities.

Nicholson, a fifth-round draft pick of the Bengals last year, had a history of off-field problems at Florida State. He was suspended for the 2006 Orange Bowl after violating team policy by taking a woman to the team's Miami hotel. She accused him of sexual assault, but Nicholson was not charged.