Caleb King’s status on team unclear after arrest (updated w/ Richt comments)
(Updated 9:10 p.m.)
Two days after Georgia’s football team won its first game in more than a month, the bad news resumed for the Bulldogs: The team had its 11th player arrested this year.
Tailback Caleb King spent about six hours Monday in the Clarke County Jail on a bench warrant issued after he failed to appear in court in Walton County to address a speeding ticket.
By late morning, King was released on $380 bond, which officials said would be used to satisfy the speeding fine. But how the issue will affect his status on the Georgia team remains unclear.
Coach Mark Richt did not make an announcement or meet with reporters Monday. He discussed the issue on his weekly radio show Monday night but did not say what action he will take.
“Getting a speeding ticket, not paying it and not showing up for a court date is certainly not a very responsible thing, but I can’t say it’s some kind of awful act that we all should just be ashamed of,” Richt said. “But certainly … all of these young men have to understand they have a responsibility to take care of whatever issue they have.
“If they have a ticket, they need to pay it. If they don’t [pay it], they need to show up for the court date. Those things are certainly obvious, and we have to get better at those kinds of things.”
Later, Richt referred to the King situation when asked if freshman running back Ken Malcome might play for the first time.
“There’s a good chance that happens,” Richt said. “We’re not saying for 100 percent certain he will, but the situation that Caleb has gotten himself into and the fact that [tailback] Carlton Thomas’ hamstring may or may not be ready by the end of the week, it may be that Ken has to play.”
To another caller who said he hopes King is not kicked off the team, Richt replied: “We’re just going to do what we feel like is the right thing to do. Bottom line is, we’ve got to make sure everybody takes care of business.”
Of the 10 players previously arrested this year, Richt dismissed four from the team and, in most of the other cases, issued suspensions of at least one game. King’s is the first case involving failure to appear in court for a speeding ticket.
King was arrested by Athens-Clarke County Police after his brother, Brandon King, was pulled over in east Athens around 4 a.m. Monday for driving without a working tag light, according to police spokeswoman Hilda Sorrow. The stop of Brandon King triggered a series of events that led to the discovery of the outstanding warrant for his brother.
First, Brandon King, 23, was placed under arrest when it was determined he was driving with a suspended license, police said. Then, officers asked Brandon King to call the owner of the vehicle he was driving, a 1996 Ford Explorer, and have it picked up.
The vehicle’s owner, Georgia football player Brandon Wood, arrived at the scene five minutes later and was accompanied by Caleb King, according to police. Officers checked the two players’ licenses and discovered the outstanding warrant from nearby Walton County for Caleb King’s arrest. He was booked into the Clarke County Jail shortly after 5 a.m.
Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman said the warrant had been issued by a judge after King, 22, failed to pay a fine or appear in court in connection with a speeding ticket this past summer.
King received a citation June 20 for driving 76 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone on Highway 78, Chapman said. The warrant was issued by a judge after King failed to appear for an Aug. 6 court date.
King was released on bond from the Clarke County Jail at 10:45 a.m. Monday. His $380 bond will be used to pay the speeding ticket, an official with the Walton County Sheriff’s Department said.
Two players said King participated in Georgia’s practice Monday evening.
King’s arrest was the second of a football player since UGA President Michael Adams last month called on the athletics department to deal with the proliferation of arrests.
“We have had too much in the football team,” Adams said in a Sept. 18 interview. “And so we expect the coaches and the AD’s to provide role models and leadership for their players, and I told the whole Athletic Association that” in an early-September staff meeting.
King’s arrest was his second since joining the Georgia program. In 2007, he was arrested by UGA Police for driving a motor-scooter with a suspended license and going the wrong way on a one-way street.
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923 comments Add your comment
Its simple
October 11th, 2010
7:13 pm
Abnerish
October 11th, 2010
7:08 pm
So someone is a “thug” because they forgot about a speeding ticket. puhleease!! Is it immature? yes. Does it further embarrass the University? yes. Is this even worth talking about? No. He should get a game or maybe a half a game for embarrassing the U and that’s it. I mean, SERIOUSLY! How many of you out there have had a speeding ticket and forgot about it and paid it either right before or right after the court date? It’s stupid, but that’s all it is
It’s stupid cause people like you fail too realize this is arrest number 11, There are still some responsible people out there and Caleb King sure as hell isn’t one
north
October 11th, 2010
7:13 pm
How is he suppose to pay the fine? He isnt allowed to have a job. Where would he get the money?
H15
October 11th, 2010
7:14 pm
@SHANE you are a fool
dawgfan13
October 11th, 2010
7:14 pm
This is going to kill recruiting! The players are going to think that they have targets on them if they come to Athens. This is the beginning to the end of the UGA football program. Why is it that the basketball players at Georgia dont get in trouble?
JUDGE DAWG
October 11th, 2010
7:14 pm
What were they doing checking IDs in the first place? They had done nothing wrong. I am not excusing failure to pay a traffic ticket but there is something strange here.
Its simple
October 11th, 2010
7:15 pm
Mike
October 11th, 2010
7:12 pm
I think the Athens-Clarke County Police needs to be investigated. Something sounds fishy. I have no doubt that King is guilty and should be dealt with accordingly, but why did the police check the license of King and Wood. This just does not seem ordinary to me. Are they purposely pursuing football players? I don’t think they are but I am now beginning to wonder.
He was arrested in Walton Co. not Athens, D@MN you must be a Georgia student also
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:15 pm
Another African-American athlete at UGa being targeted by the system—just another way to keep the black man down in that city. It never ends. The African-American players need to protest this treatment by the racist athens police.
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:18 pm
Jerome,
I didn’t know we had any people from Africa playing on our team.
Its simple
October 11th, 2010
7:18 pm
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:15 pm
Another African-American athlete at UGa being targeted by the system—just another way to keep the black man down in that city. It never ends. The African-American players need to protest this treatment by the racist athens police.
Its simple try reading the article before writing a comment and King wasn’t arrested in athens. Caleb King brought this on himself, the guy had plenty of time to pay on the speeding ticket and go to court as well
Dawgs Tell
October 11th, 2010
7:19 pm
First of all Caleb is 21,in my book he is a man at that age.We have soldiers dying in service younger than him.He knew about the court date,just did not want to go.Period!!! Should he be kicked off the team-Hell no! Maybe a two game suspension. However,I’m starting to see a pattern about the Athens Police Dept.Tag light was just an excuse to stop anyone so they can find something else.It does not matter if you are a student or athlete they are looking for revenue or something big to write a report on. Yes, Caleb did wrong.Stupid yes. Kick -off the team,no.
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:20 pm
munsondawg bite me you pathetic moron
dawg nation
October 11th, 2010
7:21 pm
Well get ready to roll “Boo” Malcome. Maybe a future star gets discovered because of this. Caleb is too old to be making this type of mistake. Been in program too long. suppose to be a leader. Oh well, he’s been all hype anyway.
Scottlarock
October 11th, 2010
7:21 pm
Wow some of the comments are stupid, the kids probably forgot about the ticket, the courts design it for you to forget it or pay right away, hense the reason most tickets have a court date 2-3 months away.
The same thing almost happened to me in last week, I received a ticket in snellville that is bogus and I was going to court to fight it, with court being two months away, I forgot until the last week on monday and court was on wednesday, which I had scheduled a work trip out of town, lucky for me I didn’t wait until tuesday to try to reschedule, bottom line things happen and kid may have forgot, I guarantee you that his summer was a lot busier than a lot of you on here posting stupid comments.
dawgfan4life
October 11th, 2010
7:21 pm
UGA75, Are you freaking kidding me? He was out at 4am to drive the car away. He has his priorities screwed up. Idiots like you want to blame the police? Thats what they do, its their job. Its called police work and it yields arrests. Bottom line is, he thought he would get away with it. I don’t care who you are, you don’t forget about a speeding ticket or a court date. That is total BS just like your post. He needs to pay his fine and he needs to accept whatever punishment he gets. Just like I would have to do!
Help is only a phone call away
October 11th, 2010
7:22 pm
We should hire D. Dooley on our staff as we sure could use a team lawyer.
Aiken29801
October 11th, 2010
7:23 pm
Where did he get the car? Where did he get the gas money? See this is the attitude that makes UGA suck…. All the reasons why he is not to be held to the same standard as everybody else. Justify his actions all you will, UGA stays in the tank as long as enablers continue to call the shots and support the actions of those who deserve to be punished. Not saying that every infraction justifies kicking a player of a team or suspending them from play but you have to have fences. Stay in line and get rewarded with the HONOR of playing for the university step out of line and there will be consequences, major or continued infractions result in more severe punishment but this is out of control and has been.
Scottlarock
October 11th, 2010
7:23 pm
I agree with you, Dawg tell, why in the world would the police officer need to see his drivers licence and the go run it, unless he was profiling, he was not on the scene when his brother was stopped so there was no reason to “check” him. Sounds kind of fishy.
insideralltheway
October 11th, 2010
7:25 pm
speeding ticket, who cares?
only reason King should be punished is for impersonating a running back…..
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:26 pm
You go protest Jerome.
dawgfan4life
October 11th, 2010
7:27 pm
Dorsey Hill, shut up please!!! The kid will get what is due to him. You want to compare this to the Poser in the White House????? Don’t worry, he will be kicked out of there soon. Wait, I know its because he’s black. It doesn’t have anything to do with his poor job performance does it? A subject for another blog if you are up to it?
dawgsfan
October 11th, 2010
7:28 pm
The “rest of the story” y’all are waiting for is Richt admitting that Caleb did tell his coach about it.
Gen Forrest
October 11th, 2010
7:29 pm
………and yes, I see the multiple grammar/spelling errors there. Not enough caffeine yet today apparently.
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:30 pm
dawgfan4life,
Obama is half-black when convenient. Remember now, he’s half white too!!!!! LOL
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:31 pm
munsondawg hey little crybaby will you shut up, if not I have something for you to suck on
Forrest Gump
October 11th, 2010
7:32 pm
The coons are here
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:33 pm
Let me guess jerome, is it your mamas tit?
dawgfan4life
October 11th, 2010
7:33 pm
yes munsondawg, Jerome is a MORON!!!!!!
Bail Money
October 11th, 2010
7:34 pm
Georgia’s athletic dept. is facing a crisis! The bail money fund is getting very low—donations are requested from dog fans everywhere to keep this fund in the green and the dog players bailed out of jail for the big games. Come on dogs–step up!
Dawg Gone
October 11th, 2010
7:34 pm
Yes, it was just a speeding ticket, and while he was 21 mph over, that’s not terribly egregious. The problem is in blowing off court/not paying the fine. Do you really think he forgot? If he did, maybe he needs a hard lesson. What would happen to you if you did the same?
Dorsey Hill
October 11th, 2010
7:35 pm
dawgfan4life,
I don’t think the comparison was to the current president. It was to the former president who it appears you voted for twice. And again, for anyone up to the challenge, tell me why George Bush, given his habits and arrests, deserved to be elected to the White House, yet Caleb doesn’t belong on our football team. I am still waiting.
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:35 pm
Forrest,
You gonna git in trouble wit dat language boy!!! LOL..
Jim007
October 11th, 2010
7:35 pm
11 arrests in 2010 and Richt is still there ????
Adams what the h are you doing ?
UGA is a MEGA Joke and getting Worse !
FLA DAWG
October 11th, 2010
7:35 pm
All he had to do was show up in court. He didn’t or wouldn’t.
Unload this guy YESTERDAY.
If King is not released then we have confirmation Richt is a weak leader.
crabapplejoe
October 11th, 2010
7:36 pm
@jerome: Why you so upset with munsondawg…what he wrote was true. The Prez was raised by his white grandparents, but when its time to run for Prez he writes a book about his relationship with his “African” father who he had met for about ten minutes at an airport….typical scenario by the way in these situations.
Jim
October 11th, 2010
7:36 pm
Why would they even check Caleb’s driver’s license in the first place? He is not the owner and the other guy, the owner, would be driving the vehicle. A bunch of B S!
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:36 pm
munsondawg and dawgfan4life if you little babies are sad about King then how about you play with each other
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:38 pm
Dorsey,
It’s because stupid people are allowed to vote for the President of the U.S.
Scottlarock
October 11th, 2010
7:38 pm
dawgfan4life, you are a moron, the reason he was out at 4am was because they were going to arrest his brother and was called down to the scene, the owner of the car, Brandon was there to pick it up and drive it back, there was no reason to run him in the system, he was not driving, I guarantee you the police do not run everyone that he comes in contact with, if he did, Athens jail could not hold all the people. Get your facts straight, along with the Obama facts also, how can you be logical in your mind that you give Bush 8 years to F it up and only give Obama 2 years to straighten it out.
munsondawg
October 11th, 2010
7:39 pm
Jerome,
I’m not sad about King. I hope Richt shows him the door.
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:39 pm
dawgfan4life=moron
Why his license was checked!
October 11th, 2010
7:40 pm
Please people read the original article- they checked his license because he came to drive home the car his brother was arrested in!!!! Ahhhhh! It had nothing to do with shady police stuff, they do this for anyone who shows up to pickup a car in that situation! More importantly, you all realize had he not had his license checked he would have then driven home the car with a suspended license, yet another legal violation.
Aiken29801
October 11th, 2010
7:41 pm
If you would slow down and read what some of you are posting on this site, you will see everything that is wrong with America today. When someone does something wrong, they will not accept responsibility for it and there’s always some idiot nearby telling them why it’s not there fault. Even if it’s profiling (which is was not) does that change the fact that Caleb failed to show up for court, even to request a reduction in fine and/or and extension for payment much less to plead his case for aquittal. No he failed to take any responsibility for his actions, even knowing the problems it would cause his team and school and you nuts are defending him……
Dorsey Hill
October 11th, 2010
7:41 pm
munsondawg,
And stupid people are allowed to attend football games, blog, call people thugs, jigs and coons, etc… but it doesn’t really answer the question does it?
Surprised
October 11th, 2010
7:42 pm
Jerome,
Let’s call Al and Jesse.
Even though the arrest didn’t occur in Athens, they’ll give ‘em the ol’ “Shakedown” anyway.
When did football evolve into race and politics?
Jim007
October 11th, 2010
7:42 pm
Isn’t this King’s second arrest ?
Maybe we now have the Three Strikes and your out policy at UGA…..
Granted that is for starters only under Richt !
Scottlarock
October 11th, 2010
7:42 pm
Yes Jerome, dawgfan4life is a moron and so is munsondawg.
Aiken29801
October 11th, 2010
7:43 pm
Someone needs to show Richt the door, he is one of the main reasons this behavior continues….
olddawg
October 11th, 2010
7:43 pm
In what other town in America have you heard of a guy being stopped, and arrested, because a tag light was out. Athens police do it again.On game days you cant even get through the light at the intersection by the Athens Civic Center because no police workt the 5 way intersection. Took me 25 minutes to go 2 blocks to get to the North Deck parking lot.
jerome
October 11th, 2010
7:45 pm
Scottlarock
October 11th, 2010
7:42 pm
Yes Jerome, dawgfan4life is a moron and so is munsondawg.
I’m glad we have another smart person on this blog
Kevin
October 11th, 2010
7:46 pm
OMG I am so disgusted….With myself! I read 20 mins worth of crap on this blog…then remembered…I have a life. The coaches know what kind of kid this is and this blog is infested with a bunch of former band geeks passing judgement…