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Steelers release Cedrick Wilson a day after arrest
PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Steelers released wide receiver Cedrick Wilson on Thursday, hours after he was charged with assaulting his estranged girlfriend at a suburban restaurant.
In a two-paragraph statement, the team give no reason for why it terminated Wilson’s contract. In three seasons with the Steelers, he caught 81 passes for 1,162 yards and two touchdowns, including 18 receptions for 207 yards last year.
Wilson, 29, entered the Patron Mexican Grill in Pine Township shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday and saw Lindsey Paulat sitting at the bar, according to a criminal complaint filed by Northern Regional Police.
Paulat told police Wilson pushed her on the shoulder and, when she turned around, punched her in the left side of her face before leaving the eatery promptly, according to the complaint.
There was redness and swelling on Paulat’s left cheek, and witnesses told officers what happened, police said.
Officers later found Wilson as he was leaving his home in his car, police said.
Wilson was arraigned around 4 a.m. Thursday on charges of simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct and freed on $10,000 bail.
Wilson’s attorney, Paul Goltz, and his agent, Tom Condon, did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.
Wilson and Paulat, the mother of his 1-year-old daughter, Anya, they were involved in a fight at Wilson’s home in January, that ended with her holding police at bay for about 12 hours.
Paulat accused Wilson of encouraging her to commit suicide when she spoke to him on the phone during events that led to her armed standoff. Goltz said at the time Wilson never spoke with Paulat by phone until after police got involved in trying to quell the standoff, and those conversations were monitored by police.
Paulat surrendered to authorities in the early hours of Jan. 20 and was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
Police withdrew those charges last month, but Paulat faces trial on charges of discharging a firearm in an occupied structure for allegedly firing two shots after Wilson left the house. Police said the handgun belongs to Wilson.
On Jan. 22, Wilson obtained a temporary protection-from-abuse order against Paulat, alleging she kicked him and that he feared she would shoot him if she got a gun.
Wilson signed with the Steelers as a free agent in March 2005 after playing with San Francisco for four seasons. For his career, he has 178 catches for 2,375 yards and eight TDs.
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