TCU wide receiver KaVontae Turpin has been dismissed from the program following his Sunday arrest for alleged assault of his girlfriend, according to head coach Gary Patterson.

Patterson did not tell Turpin of his dismissal before announcing it to the media.

Turpin was arrested and charged with assault of a family member, a Class A misdemeanor, in Fort Worth on Sunday. He was released from Tarrant County Jail on Sunday after posting a $1,000 bond.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Turpin allegedly dragged his longtime girlfriend across a parking lot and slammed her to the ground.

It was revealed on Monday that Turpin was previously arrested in Las Cruces, N.M., on March 15 and charged with battery of a household member, criminal damage to the property of a household member under $1,000 and interference with communications.

Turpin allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a woman in New Mexico, grabbed her hard enough to leave bruises, broke her phone on the counter and punched a hole in her door. Patterson confirmed that the previous incident involved the same girlfriend, who Turpin was visiting in New Mexico for spring break.

There is still a bench warrant out of the Las Cruces magistrate court for his arrest after Turpin failed to show for a pre-trial court date in July. TCU says it knew about the destruction of property charge, but not the battery of a family member charge.

“The football staff was aware there was an incident in New Mexico, but not that charges included an alleged battery,” the university said in a statement. “The publicly available information they reviewed at the time only showed a charge related to property damage. We did not know until yesterday that his legal issues were unresolved.”

Patterson suspended Turpin indefinitely from the program following his Monday arrest. He announced the Turpin would not play for TCU anymore after he learned about the extent of the second incident in New Mexico.

“I got off the [media teleconference] on Monday after 11:20. At about 1:30 or 2, I learned about this stuff just like you did,” Patterson said.

Patterson claimed that TCU looked into the March incident after Turpin returned from fall break. He waved a report at the lectern that TCU pulled from the internet in March that showed only the criminal damage charge. However, the report was from a third-party site and was incomplete. The staff never contacted the Las Cruces court or police department directly in search of more information. 

“That would have been good to know,” Patterson said. “It would have probably been handled a long time ago if we had known.”

All of the charges in New Mexico were filed on the same day. Turpin did not face any internal punishment from TCU for the criminal damage charge.

Turpin leaves TCU as one of the best playmakers in program history. He holds the program record for special teams touchdowns with six. He also has 145 receptions for 1,748 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns as a receiver. Three days ago, Turpin posted a personal best 99-yard kickoff return for touchdown.

With Turpin’s departure, Jaelan Austin is the only receiver on the roster with more than 10 career starts.