FSU LB Sims charged with domestic battery

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida State junior linebacker Ernie Sims was arrested early Wednesday for allegedly throwing his girlfriend to the ground.

Sims, 20, was arrested by Tallahassee Police after the fight with his live-in girlfriend, Brooke McGriff, who refused to press charges. He was charged with domestic battery and resisting arrest without violence, both misdemeanors.

Sims, 6-feet and 225 pounds, was released from jail after a court appearance before Leon County Judge Donald S. Mondesitt.

"Our athletic department discipline policy for a misdemeanor goes into effect with Ernie, and he will be subject to that until I have all the facts," coach Bobby Bowden said in a statement.

Bowden, in most cases, has discretion on misdemeanor cases where no jail time is involved under the school's code of conduct.

Witnesses told police that at one point Sims "slammed her on the ground" and straddled the 5-foot-2, 118-pound McGriff as she lay on the concrete in front of a residence hall near the Florida State campus.

As she tried to stand, the player repeatedly shoved her back onto the ground. Sims remained aggressive when officers arrived, the police report said.

Sims was "shirtless, drenched in sweat and very animated when I made contact with him," Tallahassee Police officer Danny Jeter wrote in the report. Sims later interfered with arresting officers when he and McGriff tried to walk away from police. He told police the argument was over a call he received Tuesday from another woman.

Sims, who was the Seminoles' second-leading tackler last season, is the second starting linebacker to get into trouble with police in recent months.

The team's top tackler, A.J. Nicholson, had a pair of run-ins with police in the last six months, including a felony DUI arrest that could sideline him for the season opener against Miami.

Seminoles quarterback Wyatt Sexton was committed to a local hospital for psychiatric evaluation after police found him disheveled and partially clothed on a city street last month doing push-ups and calling himself God. Sexton's future with the team hasn't been addressed.