TAMPA, Fla. — The 49ers released Reuben Foster on Sunday less than 12 hours after the troubled inside linebacker was arrested on one count of first-degree misdemeanor domestic-violence battery Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay.

The team announced Foster’s release via a brief statement: “The San Francisco 49ers today announced they are releasing Reuben Foster.”

Foster, 24, was arrested at 9:10 p.m. local time and booked into Hillsborough County Jail at 11:11 p.m., according to a custody report from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. According to the Associated Press, Foster was released Sunday morning on $2,000 bail.

The alleged victim is Elissa Ennis, 28, a source said. In May, a Santa Clara County Court judge dropped domestic-violence charges against Foster, a week after Ennis took the stand and recanted her allegations that Foster struck her in Los Gatos on Feb. 11.

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In a statement, the Tampa Police said Foster and the “female victim” have been involved “in an on-again-off-again relationship over the past three years.” Per the statement, they were involved in a verbal altercation Saturday during which “Foster slapped her phone out of her hand, pushed her in the chest area, and slapped her with an open hand on the left side of her face. Officers observed a one-inch scratch on the victim's left collarbone.”

General manager John Lynch said the team gave Foster clear expectations for his behavior after he was arrested twice in the offseason.

“Unfortunately, what transpired yesterday - this isn’t a comment on what happened there because that would be mere speculation on our part,” Lynch said. “It’s more of a comment of him not living up to what we had communicated. The energy and the time that we’ve invested into him. That doesn’t mean we don’t love him. We all do. We care for him. But we feel like it’s in the best interest of our organization to move on at this point.”

On Saturday, two members of the hotel’s valet-parking staff said an ambulance was at the Grand Hyatt earlier in the evening. A mug shot of the sheriff’s website showed Foster in an orange jail clothes. He was arrested by Tampa police officers.

The incident is the latest in a string of legal troubles for Foster over the past 10 months.

Shortly after the judge dropped domestic-violence charges in May, 49ers general manager John Lynch released a statement saying, “It has been made clear to Reuben that his place on this team is one that must continue to be earned.”

“The really sad thing is he had shown some, of late in particular, he was really taking some very positive steps,” Lynch said Sunday. “And maturing in a really nice fashion. Unfortunately, in life there’s consequences for your actions. And when you show bad judgment, particularly for something that’s been communicated very clearly what the expectations are, there are consequences.”

Added Lynch: “One of our tenets is protect the team. He didn’t protect the team. And like I said, nobody is bigger than the team.”

In April, when Foster was away from the team due to his legal issues, head coach Kyle Shanahan said the 49ers had a zero-tolerance domestic-violence policy.

“We can promise you guys — if there’s someone who ever hits their significant other, girlfriends, some person like that, that person is not going to be on our team,” Shanahan said. “I feel strongly about that. I know John does. I know our ownership does. That’s how we feel about it. Obviously, Reuben is on our team right now, so we’re waiting to see how that goes. But if that’s something that we felt he did or ended up happening, you guys will see how we feel.”

Foster still served a two-game NFL suspension to start this season because of his arrest for misdemeanor marijuana possession in January in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and a gun charge that was part of his arrest on Feb. 11, when a loaded Sig Sauer 516 rifle was found on a bathroom floor. In June, Foster pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor weapons charge and was ordered to perform 232 hours of community service. He was also given two years of probation, during which he is barred from possessing guns.

In 2017, before he was drafted, Foster failed a drug test at the NFL combine after allegedly submitting a diluted urine sample. He was kicked out of the combine after an altercation with a hospital employee.

Concerns about Foster’s character caused him to nearly slip out of the first round of the draft before the 49ers traded up three spots to select him with the No. 31 overall pick. At Alabama, Foster won the Butkus Award, which is given to the nation’s best linebacker, and he was viewed as a top-10 pick based on his talent.

“I would anticipate people maybe questioning some of his character, but I would tell you his character’s what drew us to him,” Lynch said when Foster was drafted. “When you start talking football with this young man he lights up a room. And he’s a good kid. I believe in the kid and I think it’s going to be -- he’s going to be a great player for this organization for a long time.”

On Sunday, Lynch was asked if he regretted drafting Foster.

“I don’t,” Lynch said. “I think we all learned from it. You have to learn from every situation. Ultimately, these guys are human beings and they’re young men. And they’re fallible.”

In 2017, Foster ranked second on the team in tackles (72) despite missing six games with injuries and was the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Month for November. This season, Foster played in just six of 10 games and has 29 tackles.

Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report.

Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch