GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida defensive back Deiondre Porter was suspended indefinitely from the team Wednesday after he was arrested and accused of shooting a gun in the direction of his pregnant girlfriend.
Porter was one of the Florida Gators' top special teams players.
Alachua County Jail records show he was booked at 11:19 a.m. on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, firing a weapon and property damage.
The arrest report said shortly after 2 a.m. on Sept. 29, Porter confronted his girlfriend, who was 10 weeks pregnant, about being involved with one of his teammates. The report said Porter began yelling in her apartment, demanding she tell him the truth.
Deputies said the woman went to her bedroom to avoid the confrontation and Porter followed her, pulled out a gun and put it to her head.
She told deputies she made numerous attempts to contact the teammate to prove she had not been intimate with him but he didn't answer.
Porter told her they would try again in the morning and he eventually went to sleep in her bedroom while she slept in the living room, according to the arrest report.
Later that same day, Porter began yelling at his girlfriend again about her being involved with his teammate, the arrest report said.
She continued to deny having any type of intimate relationship with the teammate. She said Porter became enraged and started pacing back and forth in the living room.
Porter's girlfriend said all of a sudden she saw Porter raise his arm and fire a gun in her direction. She told deputies the bullet struck the wall where she was leaning and Porter left the apartment shortly after.
The woman came forward on Monday, nearly two weeks later, to report the incident.
"She said she was scared. She was dealing with a well-known UF football player and she was honestly terrified to come to the police and report it," said Officer Ben Tobias, a police spokesman.
Deputies said Porter and his girlfriend had been in a relationship since 2013 and he was aware of the pregnancy prior to this incident.
During a search of the girlfriend's apartment, a bullet hole was found in the wall near the front door and a .45 caliber shell casing was also found under a chair in the living.
The following day, Gainesville police found Porter in a car with a friend named Justin Acevedo. An officer said the car was backed into the corner of the parking lot near Apartment Hunters on Archer Road with the lights off.
The officer said as he approached the car, he saw Acevedo in the driver's seat and Porter in the passenger's seat and smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside.
The officer asked Acevedo if drugs or weapons were in the vehicle and he said no, according to the arrest report. The officer searched Acevedo and said he found a .45 caliber gun in his waistband.
"I didn't think you would find it so I didn't say anything, man," Acevedo told the officer, according to the arrest report.
Acevedo was arrested on drug and weapons violation charges, since he did not have a concealed weapons permit.
Porter told police he didn't know about the marijuana but he did smell it and was released on his own recognizance.
Police said the incident involving Porter and his girlfriend had not been reported at that point.
They arrested Porter on Wednesday, two weeks after the incident involving his girlfriend.
The Gators announced Porter's suspension on Twitter, and coach Jim McElwain addressed it on the Southeastern Conference coaches call.
"He's no longer with the football team," McElwain said. "He's suspended indefinitely for obviously a choice. It's his choice not to be with us. I'm sure you'll read about it soon enough. It's one of those things that we don't obviously condone. Like I said, it was his choice."
The news of the arrest comes days after UF quarterback Will Grier was suspended from the team for one calendar year for the use of a supplement, which violated NCAA policy.
The Florida Gators travel to LSU on Saturday, where quarterback Treon Harris will start.