KNOXVILLE — Tennessee defensive lineman Alexis Johnson was suspended from the team Wednesday after he was arrested in connection to a domestic incident involving a woman over the weekend.
Johnson, 30, was arrested Wednesday on one count of aggravated assault and one count of false imprisonment after authorities say he attacked a woman he'd been dating, a Knox County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.
Th incident took place early Sunday at his apartment in Volunteer Hall in the 1500 block of White Ave., a Knox County jail spokesman said.
The woman, who previously dated Johnson on two occasions, told police she was "play fighting" with him in the living room and the bedroom of his apartment sometime between 3-5 a.m. when the horseplay turned violent, according to arrest warrants obtained by The Knoxville News Sentinel. The episode escalated when Johnson placed his hand around the victim's throat, repeatedly choking her to the point that she could not fight back and felt she was going to pass out, warrants state. A witness said Johnson "appeared to be really punching her," and that the victim's lip "was busted," according to the warrants.
