Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is fighting to keep video from his garage out of the public eye, and the legal battle now sits with the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department.
According to WBAY, Jacobs has sued the department, which is responsible for deciding whether video tied to his battery and criminal damage to property case will be released. The dispute picked up after it was reported yesterday that the department delayed releasing evidence requested by media outlets because it “has received written notifications from attorneys representing the record subjects of their intentions to seek judicial orders restraining disclosure.”
It is not confirmed who those subjects are, though Jacobs had previously sought a temporary seal of the evidence and the victim asked for a permanent seal. Earlier in the process, a judge decided the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department - not the judge - would make the final call on whether the evidence should stay sealed permanently.
There have also been reports that the NFL wants to see the video but has not been able to obtain it. Packers coach Matt LaFleur has said on the record that neither he nor the team has viewed the footage.
Jacobs is currently on the league’s commissioner exempt list, which functions as a placeholder for a suspension. Any time he spends there will count toward a suspension if one is handed down, but the NFL has only one chance to suspend him for a single violation of the personal conduct policy. The source points to the Ray Rice case as the cautionary example: Rice was first suspended for two games, then suspended indefinitely after TMZ published video of his domestic abuse incident, and the league eventually had to pay him back for the extra games missed beyond the original two.
WBAY reported that online court records show Jacobs filed his lawsuit Thursday seeking a “Permanent Injunction, Protective Order, and Order Restricting Access to Records Under Wis. Stat.19.356.”
The materials at issue include police reports, dispatch audio, investigative notes, and video footage recorded inside Jacobs’ private residential garage that was obtained through a search warrant.
In the suit, Jacobs argues that releasing the garage video would reveal the layout of his home, access points, security arrangements, and valuables. Because his schedule and travel dates are public as a professional athlete, he contends that disclosure would create a serious and lasting risk of burglary, break-ins, or harassment.
Jacobs also says he is supporting the victim identified in the filing as “ANM,” arguing that releasing the records would violate Wisconsin victim privacy rights, known as Marsy’s Law, and would cause re-victimization. The suit says redaction would not be enough because modern AI identification tools could still expose sensitive details.
“ANM is a crime victim who seeks closure, not public attention,” the suit states.
Jacobs is asking a judge to permanently block the police department from releasing the garage footage and any identifying or sensitive information about the victim, saying personal safety and privacy outweigh the public’s interest in the records.
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