Lance Smith, a sophomore running back for the Badgers, was suspended Wednesday for five away games due to allegations of criminal misconduct this summer against his former girlfriend, a UW-Madison student.

The Office of the Dean of Students made Wednesday’s announcement, though Smith has been sanctioned over the past months by the UW Athletic Department and is involved in an open case with the state legal system.

According to a Wisconsin Athletic Communications release, Smith­­ will not travel or compete in this season’s five regular-season road games. He will miss Saturday’s game at UNLV, as well as games at Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State and Minnesota.

Head Football Coach Bret Bielema said at a Wednesday press conference he had notice of the administration’s intended penalties for Smith a week before the Washington State game.

“It’s an unfortunate situation for Lance and everyone that’s been involved,” Bielema said. “It kept lingering on and on and on, and we just want to put it behind us.”

The non-academic misconduct incident in question involved Smith’s arrest after an alleged fight with his girlfriend July 14.

According to the criminal complaint, Smith started an argument with his girlfriend because Smith said she owed him $10, while she said she owed $5 for a cab fare.

The woman said “she only had a $20 bill in her purse, had no change, and would pay him later,” but after telling him she wanted to leave, “he did not move from in front of the door.”

Instead, Smith “took one of his hands and grabbed [her] by the neck and pushed her onto a mattress in the bedroom.” The complaint states he then followed her to Open Pantry, 1401 Regent St., where she told him she would get his change.

Obscenities and violence allegedly continued at the convenience store, where Smith supposedly grabbed the woman by the neck in a strangling manner while pushing her against a window of the front entrance.

According to the complaint, after the woman fell to the ground on her back, Smith straddled her, grabbed both sides of her head by the hair, lifted her––striking her head on the cement––and continued to backhand her left cheek.

Following a struggle, Smith allegedly “walked away with both of her shoes” and a $20 bill that fell from her purse.

Smith’s actions were recorded by the store’s video surveillance, according to the complaint.

He has since entered not guilty pleas to two misdemeanor charges for battery and misconduct and is to reappear in Dane County court Oct. 23.

Smith was suspended from the team July 18 because his involvement in the scuffle violated the UW Department of Athletics Student Athlete Discipline Policy, but he was later reinstated by Alvarez Aug. 6––in time for the first practice of the fall season.

Lori Berquam, dean of students, said her office became involved due to these violations.

“There are three separate [disciplinary] processes: the Athletic Department discipline process, the legal process and then the dean of students office process––or nonacademic misconduct––which is in violation of UW System code 17 and 18,” she said.

According to Berquam, the Office of the Dean of Students handles any misconduct that happens on campus or that involved student-to-student misconduct. She added cases of misconduct are not made public without a student’s permission.

“One of the reasons permission was granted in this case was just in terms of kind of the high-profile nature of this,” she said. “Typically, we don’t ask students to make the outcomes of their hearings public because it’s protected by [the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act].” According to the release, Smith will continue to play home games, participate in team activities and receive traditional student-athlete support services while involved in court, athletic and university-mandated legal processes.