A Bay Area domestic violence protection group is raising red flags over former San Francisco 49ers lineman Ray McDonald.
McDonald was released from jail again Wednesday night after being arrested for violating a protective order prohibiting him from contacting the alleged victim or visiting her home. That order was issued after McDonald’s Monday arrest on misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and child endangerment.
NBC Bay Area legal analyst Steven Clark says protective orders, like the one against McDonald, carry the weight of the law with them.
And now some are worried the life of McDonald's alleged victim is in danger.
"There are two things that worry me,” said Kathleen Krenek, the Executive Director of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence in San Jose. Those two things make McDonald potentially deadly, Krenek said. One is violating the order. “He broke the protective order, and when you have no boundaries, nothing can hold you."
Krenek said the second checkmark for McDonald on the so-called “lethality assessment” is that no team will likely sign him now.
“He lost his job now. So he lost his career. Lost everything he put into,” Krenek said. “So what’s left?”
McDonald’s attorney did not return repeated messages on Thursday, but Wednesday he told NBC Bay Area McDonald was never served with a protective order and only went to the apartment to meet with an investigator who works for his attorney. Santa Clara police confirm he was served.
“You are required to be personally served,” Clark said. “But once served you must follow it. And not reading it is not a defense."
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McDonald is out on bail. Next Door Solutions says the judge should revoke his bail and keep McDonald locked up.
Clark said, with the alleged violation of this order, the district attorney doesn’t need cooperation of the alleged victim to prosecute.
