Former UGA and NFL quarterback Quincy Carter, whose football career was sidetracked by bouts with drugs and alcohol, now faces battery charges stemming from an alleged violent altercation with a 35-year-old woman at her Lawrenceville apartment.
The woman, who identified herself as Carter's girlfriend, told Gwinnett County Police the 33-year-old Decatur native repeatedly punched and choked her after she told him she was sick of him "being drunk all the time," according to the incident report, dated Oct. 6.
"He put both of his hands around her neck and started choking her," the report states. "He also punched her in the mouth and in face area several times. Before Quincy left, he punched her in the right eye."
The officer observed a scratch on the victim's neck, along with bruises and cuts on her arms and lips. A warrant was issued for Carter's arrest.
Nine days later, Carter was stopped on Duluth Highway and Atkinson Road for driving with an expired tag. After questioning Carter the patrolman discovered that his license had been suspended. The former Dallas Cowboy told the officer his license expired six years earlier.
He was arrested and charged with three driving violations and the outstanding battery charge. Carter, now living in Ellenwood, was released later that day from the Gwinnett County Detention Center, police records reveal.
The two-sport star first rose to prominence in 1995 when he led the Southwest DeKalb High School football Panthers to the AAAA State Championship. Carter signed a letter of intent to play at Georgia Tech in 1996 but ended up signing with the Chicago Cubs instead after being drafted 52nd overall in the MLB amateur draft.
Carter struggled with the bat, however, and in 1998 he enrolled at the University of Georgia, winning the starting quarterback job as a freshman. He declared himself eligible for the NFL draft after his junior season and was selected in the second round by the Cowboys.
After leading Dallas to the playoffs in 2003, Carter was released in 2004 for failing a drug test and attitude problems, according to the team. He started three games for the New York Jets in 2004 but more problems with drugs led to his release the following season.
Since then Carter has bounced around the Canadian and Arena football leagues and has been in and out of trouble with the law. He was cut by the Abilene Ruff Riders of the fledgling Indoor Football League in 2009 after a pair of arrests -- for DWI and failing to pay his bondsman.
Carter was also accused of making terroristic threats in May after a Duluth woman told Gwinnett police he threatened to kill her. Police spokesman Brian Kelly told the AJC late Friday night he did not know if charges were ever filed in that incident.
