Athens police: UGA players cleared in taxi incident
Athens-Clarke County police Monday cleared the Georgia football team of involvement in an alleged March 28 attack on a married couple in an Athens taxi.
Police said in a statement that one football player was in the vehicle, “but the investigation revealed that he acted as a peacemaker and tried to calm the situation.”
The suspects in the case “have been identified as residents of Heard County,” police said. Arrest warrants are pending and further information will be released after they are issued, police said.
Police did not identify the player they said acted as peacemaker.
The incident has been under investigation since March 30, when the married couple filed a police report. That report stated that the couple was taking a taxi van home around 2 a.m. when the driver stopped to pick up four males in downtown Athens – “all of whom were UGA football players, according to the [male victim].” He told police that the men cursed and threatened him and his wife and that one of the four “slapped or punched” them in the back of their heads, according to the report.
Georgia’s football team did not practice Monday, and through a spokesman coach Mark Richt declined to comment immediately on the police statement clearing players of involvement. Richt might comment on the matter Tuesday, the spokesman said.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
249 comments Add your comment
For dawglessville
April 5th, 2010
8:34 pm
Kevin Perez-DUI not a minor traffic violation
Zach Mettenberger- Drunk and Disorderly- not a minor traffic violation
Michael Lemon- Felony Battery- not a minor traffic violation
Justin Anderson-battery- not a minor traffic violation
Trinton Sturdivant- battery- not a minor traffic violation
Donovan Baldwin-drunk and disorderly- not a minor traffic violation
Marcus Dotwin-drunk and disorderly- not a minor traffic violation
Jeff Henson- Public urination- not a minor traffic violation
Clint Boling-DUI- not a minor traffic violation
Jeremy Lomax- concealed weapon- not a minor traffic violation
Brandon Wood- DUI-not a minor traffic violation
Kendric Golstoon- Barroom brawl-not a minor traffic violation
this goes on and on but I think you get the picture…
Brainiac(Dawg for life)
April 5th, 2010
8:36 pm
Tech Master-bater: You couldn’t find your skinny little girlie butt with both hands in your hip pockets. Get back to clearing tables.
The Truth
April 5th, 2010
8:45 pm
GA Tech Lies & Cheats & Everyone knows it. I thank God everyday that I was not raised to be a GA Tech fan. Thank you Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For dawglessville
April 5th, 2010
8:48 pm
Actually HBTD1 unless you’re talking about Women’s equestrian you don’t beat my team in much of anything every year. Good try though….
Cherokee
April 5th, 2010
8:50 pm
For dawglessville ….so are you jealous that you didn’t get a scholarship offer from UGA or what is your problem? Or did you even go to college? I am sure if you did your research on every other college you would find the same issues. You have way to much time on your hands.
For dawglessville
April 5th, 2010
8:50 pm
Jeff Henson-DUI- not a minor traffic violation
For dawglessville
April 5th, 2010
8:52 pm
Cherokee- Guess that’s all you got when your completely retarded statement of “99% were minor traffic violations” was proven to be complete BS. If you don’t want to be made to look like such a fool with your lies then don’t post them…
Cherokee
April 5th, 2010
8:56 pm
For dawglessville…nope just don’t have the time to research to see how many are actually true, and if they are true which ones were actually convicted. You want to research that and get back to us? You still did not answer the question why you are so pissed off at UGA?
For dawglessville
April 5th, 2010
9:03 pm
Just showing you what a hypocrite you are. You blindly throw stones at a team when the FACTS are UGA has had more players arrested in the same time period and NO it wasn’t even close to 99% minor traffic violations. No wonder dog fans are so delusional, you make blanket statements with not even knowing anywhere close to the facts in which are going to make you look bad.
Bruce Mac
April 5th, 2010
9:03 pm
Montez off the team, TaxiGate is over. I love my coach. We are getting ready to kick some serious booty. GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!! Game over.
Montez Mania
April 5th, 2010
9:06 pm
“Thank goodness we have a coach that is objective and fair”
Objective, fair, and a 2-7 record against Florida………..keep him!
Cherokee
April 5th, 2010
9:07 pm
For dawglessville ….sorry dude no hypocrite and before you start calling people names you need to be sure you know what you are talking about. Where was I throwing stones blindly?
Bruce Mac
April 5th, 2010
9:08 pm
Oh yea, I forgot. Tech will never matter again in College Football unless Bobby Dodd is reincarnated. The Fox Train is coming, deal with it. “How do you like me now”? AD Evans
Dawglasville
April 5th, 2010
9:08 pm
For dawglessville – Well, since you took the time to find all of these I will show you the respect to look into all of them. What is your team again? I promise not to be childish. We are both talking about things that we can not control. I just want to see how tight the ship is that your coach runs.
ga gator
April 5th, 2010
9:08 pm
Good news for UGA, the SEC and all of college football.
Bruce Mac
April 5th, 2010
9:10 pm
Montez, thank you for your support. CMR is not done yet.
Cherokee
April 5th, 2010
9:17 pm
Dawglasville …How does he have the time to look for this stuff on another team? Makes you wonder what kind of life he has? No team is perfect and we all hope that CMR is fixing the problem, which I think is.
VolNation
April 5th, 2010
9:23 pm
Interesting how everything was closed for comment until they were cleared…you didn’t grant the same courtesy to the the UT players…what gives with that???
Tdawg
April 5th, 2010
9:24 pm
stw………we’re all still here. If you will go back and do some reading you will see that 99% of the dawg fans used the IF word. Non dawg fans not so much. As for myself, even if it had been Georgia football players I would find it hard to believe that all four of them would have been stupid enough to do something like that. Now pay special attention to this. IF some or all of them no matter their race did what they were accused of, then I don’t care what you say, they should have been kicked off the team, again IF. It is a relief to hear that only one of them was a dawg and IF he did what they said he did(play peace maker) then my hats off to this young man. IF he did this, then he is a tribute to his parents.
Dawglasville
April 5th, 2010
9:25 pm
Where are the adults at the AJC? Shut this guy up.
Preston
April 5th, 2010
9:29 pm
Brown sugar, yeah and his ass (Montez) don’t play for UGA anymore either, does he? If he played for Florida, he’d get suspended for half of a game.
Dawglasville
April 5th, 2010
9:30 pm
I guess I should have had more faith. That was crazy.
For dawglessville
April 5th, 2010
9:30 pm
Cherokee- it took me the same amount of time to look those up as it did for you to read and respond each time. It also didn’t take long for you to realize your statement out of pure assumption was wrong and ignorant and start backtracking and attempting to deflect from being called out with facts.
Bruce Mac
April 5th, 2010
9:31 pm
Again, I am proud of our coach. He supports and gives second chances. When the person proves he is not worthy of the support, he makes the call. If I had a kid that could play for UGA I would encourage him to go there no doubt.
Preston
April 5th, 2010
9:33 pm
VolNation, you should be glad that the AJC spared you the egg that surely would be splattered all over your face if the comments were allowed before. Don’t complain because they did you a favor. The UT idiots were on camera. Pretty damning evidence right from the start on that case.
Tdawg
April 5th, 2010
9:34 pm
BravesFan 79………….Man you need to pick your battles a little better. You are way off base with this one. Politics has no place in this argument, that is of coarse unless the KKK or the NAACP were to get involved. Until then this is nothing more than a criminal act by a few thugs.
Big D Dawg
April 5th, 2010
10:26 pm
for dawglessville…..assault, dui they are all bad and no real dawg fan should accept it. now back to your team?? credit card stealing from a dead woman, firing an ak 47 in public, hitting a coed in the face with a beer pitcher, robbing a convenience store, having to give up 21 victories, probation, houston selling drugs???? any of those sound familiar to you?
bad apple dawg
April 5th, 2010
10:29 pm
CMR is lax on discipline until his hand is forced. Metteburger should be suspended for at least 3 conference games . Nothing but prima donna’s and thugs at UGA.
Brown Dawg stains in my underwear
April 5th, 2010
10:32 pm
This cabbie incident stinks and I smell cover up!
whatever
April 5th, 2010
10:49 pm
I wonder how much UGA’s Athletic Dept paid the police? Hmmm. And once again, some idiot has to make a racial issue out of this – I have not read ANYWHERE where they identified the “players” as black. And BTW – how did the “victim” know that they all were football players? Either way – it sounds as if the police were paid-off again.
RED DOG 77
April 5th, 2010
11:02 pm
Hate to say, “I told you so”…………but, ” I told you so “. ……………..The immature little people that bully college kids, is just a sad situation…………..Remember these are college kids, not NFL players, and one of the kids on the bus, a football player, was a peace maker………..Grow-up you immature adults…………I’d like to see some apoligies posted about now………..Anyone man enough for that ?
superDawg
April 5th, 2010
11:10 pm
To hell with peace makers I will always hate the tek nerds on this site.Stinger I will be in Athens Ga. saturday on Huff St.
superDawg
April 5th, 2010
11:11 pm
Excuse me Hull St.
UGA72
April 5th, 2010
11:14 pm
For all you bloggers who assume some sort of coverup was consorted between UGA and the police, forget it! Life in Athens for atheletes does not work that way. They screw up and they usually pay the price. I am a retired journalist of 35 years. One thing I learned over that period is that a scandal does not lurk beneath every rock. The problem is a serious amount of incivility was apparently displayed by some of the black passengers inside the taxi, a certainly verbal, and possibly simple assault occurred to the victims, who, in turn, are likely guilty of making statements based on opinion to the police; Statements that the news media headline writers will have a field day with. The good point in all this is that no UGA players (outside the one “peacekeeper”) are part of this non-story. And someone will discover the identity of the “peacekeeper.” His story will be told, also. We have not heard the last of the Great Bratwurst Experience. Stay tuned!
P. Bull Terrier
April 5th, 2010
11:35 pm
We’ll be reading about “The Whole truth” (11:12 p.m.) getting shot outside of Magic City one of these days after he beats up someone else’s girl friend.
Even though he’s clearly an idiot, he indirectly brings up a point I’ve wondered about too. I haven’t heard anything about what the white couple’s role in the whole incident was. Were they simply sitting in the taxi minding their own business as the story implies or was there some type of arguement that led up to the head slapping? I haven’t heard anything either way, but since the accuser was wrong about the 4 men being football players, I wonder what else he might have been wrong about that night.
Preston
April 5th, 2010
11:47 pm
You guys are idiots for believing that the cops were paid off.We have guys getting arrested for mistaking a cop car for a taxi when he had too much to drink (very responsible), riding mopeds the wrong way, and rubbing a pregnant girl’s belly and you actually believe that UGA pays off the cops. Get a life you UGA haters.
Stinger
April 5th, 2010
11:50 pm
ACC RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn’t see any SUC teams in final 4.
col fot
April 6th, 2010
12:04 am
Hey! Techie Tucker, aren’t you dissapointed the UGA player was cleared in that investigation…too bad, so sad. Why don’t you write something with relavance instead of that BULL…. that you do!!!
What a crock.
Brown Dawg stains in my underwear
April 6th, 2010
12:09 am
UGA Baseball team stinks too. The team is getting beatdowns like Tenn. and Florida have been putting on the UGA football team lately.
Don'twastepisson tech
April 6th, 2010
12:13 am
Just wondering when does the “Thug” label apply…. Resisting arrest? Drunken disorderly conduct? Under Age Drinking? Falling off balcony while threatening someone while under age drinking? Getting into drunken fights while underage drinking or drinking period? or just doing any of the above while being black at the same time? I just need to be clear on this for future reference.
Paul Johnson's breaf stanks
April 6th, 2010
12:18 am
This cab incident has the makings of a cover up hand down. CMR has lost control just like Perno has with the baseball team. What a bunch of losers.
finish the drill
April 6th, 2010
12:23 am
An innocent UGA football player riding in a taxi at 2:00 a.m. getting ready for practice.
Keep America CLEAN
April 6th, 2010
12:26 am
Make those Heard County boys pick up all that tail-gating trash as punishment.
GT
April 6th, 2010
12:29 am
…………..Looks like another trip to Shreveport for UGA
DodgerDawg
April 6th, 2010
12:33 am
Seems Brian Cook of The Sporting News (sic) is going to try to let this one slide without a retraction or an apology for his news (sic) reporting. Here is his update:
APRIL 5 UPDATE: Late today police are saying the following regarding the taxi incident, via the AJC: (removed AJC article)
We’ll continue to update this on Tuesday if there is more news on who the peacemaking player was.
Original Post: It’s April Fool’s Day and it’s the afternoon so by now you have had it beaten into your head that anything surprising or weird going on today is a damn dirty lie. But we’re pretty sure this is legit: a couple on the Georgia campus gets into a cab late on March 29th and is joined by four “individuals who knew the cab driver.” The individuals have bratwursts. (removed rest of original article)
So much for reporting being about facts.
col fot
April 6th, 2010
12:34 am
Ga tech, the joke of college sports, their crimes are constantly covered up. Just a scumbag unit from one to the other.
Football Factory baby
April 6th, 2010
12:49 am
Yep, another cover up at the neighborhood football factory. Way to go Athens police. The SEC is overrun with criminals now, and they get all the breaks.
Just like the UT fans that got robbed at gunpoint by their own players: “That’s just how it is.”
Brandon Spikes
April 6th, 2010
12:51 am
I poked out some eyeballs last time I partied in Athens. No charges filed, of course. They were just UGA students, so no one bothered.
Freedom Dawg
April 6th, 2010
12:55 am
Glad CMR finally decided to pay off the police, instead of ignoring them. That’s how its done in Clarke and it only took him 10 yrs to figure it out!!! Another reason why he needs to go…
Don'twastepisson tech
April 6th, 2010
1:06 am
Thug or No Thug…..
Matt James, 17, of Cincinnati, was the second teenager in two weeks to die. Police say the 6-foot-6, 290-pound offensive lineman was drunk and acting belligerent when he fell Friday night as he leaned over a fifth-floor railing to shake his finger at people in an adjoining room