Rickerson off team after arrest

Gainesville Police arrested UF cornerback Jacques Rickerson overnight on a charge of domestic battery by strangulation, the law enforcement agency reported. The charge is a felony.

Rickerson has been kicked off the team. Coach Urban Meyer said in a statement: “Jacques Rickerson is no longer part of our team — that is not what our program is about.”

Inital reports from police stated Rickerson, 20, was involved in a fight with his girlfriend at her home that escalated. Officers responded to the report and, with the help of UF Police, later located Rickerson who had left the woman's residence, said Gainesville Police spokeswoman Officer Summer Hallett.

An arrest report stated Rickerson was at the woman's home and became upset when she told him to leave. Police said he hit the woman on the side of her face and choked her around the throat. When she screamed for help, he pushed her neck further into the mattress of the bed and used a pillow to cover her face.

After he let her go, the woman told police she tried to get out of the room but he blocked the door. He also took her cell phone when she said she was going to call police.

Officers reported the woman had visible injuries to her arm, neck and upper chest.

Rickerson was a backup cornerback for the Gators. He played in all eight games this season, recording 10 tackles and an interception.

Rickerson was being held at the Alachua County jail Tuesday morning. No bond had yet been set for his release from the facility.

This is not the first legal issue Rickerson has faced since he's been at UF. A year ago, he pleaded no contest to possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and was placed on probation and ordered to do community service work.