Chicago Bears release Ray McDonald following arrest

Chicago Bears have released Ray McDonald following his arrest on suspicion of domestic violence and child endangerment.

Police in Santa Clara, California, confirmed the defensive end’s Monday arrest, saying heĀ “physically assaulted the victim while she was holding a baby.”

McDonald has now been arrested three times in nine months, although he has not faced charges on any of the allegations and was last month cleared by the NFL of any wrongdoing during the first of those incidents.

But the Bears, who gave McDonald a deal in March after he was dropped by the San Francisco 49ers, have now confirmed his departure.

The NFL franchise’s general manager Ryan Pace said: “We believe in second chances, but when we signed Ray we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear.

“He was not able to meet the standard and the decision was made to release him.”