UPDATE III: Georgia TB Isaiah Crowell dismissed after weapons arrest
Georgia tailback Isaiah Crowell, who rushed for 850 yards as a freshman last season, was expected to start for the Bulldogs this fall. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
UPDATED: CROWELL DISMISSED FROM TEAM
ATHENS – Georgia tailback Isaiah Crowell has been dismissed from the team following his arrest early Friday morning on three weapons charges.
Georgia coach Mark Richt made the announcement in short news release sent out by UGA Sports Communications at 5 p.m. on Friday.
“We have a dedicated and committed group of men who are working hard to prepare for the coming season,” Richt said. “Our total focus will be directed toward the team and this effort.”
Crowell, a sophomore from Columbus, was booked at 3:37 a.m. on charges of possessing a concealed weapon, having a weapon in a school zone and having an altered ID mark on that weapon. His bond, originally set at $7,500, was raised to $9,500 late Friday morning. According to booking records, Crowell was released early Friday afternoon.
According to the police report, four other Georgia football players were also in Crowell’s vehicle, including three 2012 freshman signees. Those persons were outside linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons, wide receiver Blake Tibbs and defensive back Sheldon Dawson. Also present was sophomore defensive back Quintavius Harrow. None of the four were charged.
According to Athens-Clarke police spokesperson Hilda Sorrow, Crowell was arrested at a “vehicle check-point” — or road block — on East Campus Road at Green Street at 2:20 a.m. Friday. Officer Kathryn Thornton reported smelling the odor of marijuana in Crowell’s silver four-door 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis. Crowell gave consent to search the vehicle, himself and four other occupants. No marijuana was discovered but a black 9-mm Luger handgun with an altered serial number was found under the driver’s seat. Crowell was immediately arrested and taken to jail.
According to the police report, Crowell denied knowing the gun was in the car and said people drive the vehicle. He. The owner of the vehicle is listed as Crowell’s mother Debbie. The report also indicted that the five were coming from the nightclub Aftermath, where Crowell said the smell of marijuana originated.
The police report also indicated that Crowell has no criminal history.
Crowell’s mother, Debbie, was clearly distressed when reached by telephone Friday. “I don’t want to talk to a reporter right now,” she said. “”If I want to talk to anybody it’s God.”
Crowell, who came to UGA in 2011 as the No. 1-rated running back prospect in America, was slated to start for the Bulldogs at tailback this season. He rushed for 850 yards and 5 touchdowns as a freshman despite missing playing time due to suspensions and injuries. He was benched for the first quarter of the Vanderbilt game on Oct. 15 as a punishment for an undisclosed disciplinary infraction and he was suspended for the Nov. 5 New Mexico State game, reportedly for failing a drug test.
With Crowell out of the fold, Georgia will turn to redshirt sophomore Ken Malcome and senior Richard Samuel to carry the load early on, along with junior Brandon Harton. The Bulldogs also signed Keith Marshall of Raleigh, N.C. — the top running back prospect in the country, according to 247Sports.com — and four-star prospect Todd Gurley of Tarboro, N.C., to play running back. Marshall enrolled in January.
Marshall and other running backs were offering support for Crowell via Twitter.
“Pray for Isaiah & that he will learn from his mistake,” wrote Marshall from @Truthh4.
Derrick Henry, a highly-touted running back prospect from Florida who once was committed to Georgia, also weighed in via his Twitter account, @KingHenry_2: “Pray for Crowell instead [of] bashing him . . . because everyone wasn’t raised the same. . . . So everyone should just pray he sees a better way”
More information to come when it’s available.
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1,565 comments Add your comment
Michael Dyer
June 29th, 2012
12:46 pm
Isaiah Crowell for Heisman!!!
FireMarkRicht
June 29th, 2012
12:46 pm
you need a coach with a strong moral and ethical character.. i belive that this is what mark richt lacks… its time for georgia to fire his ass and all his staff… you dont hear about this from alabama or auburn or other top football programs.. Georgia Needs to get with the f’uggin Program
I dropped my fried twinkie
June 29th, 2012
12:47 pm
Mike
June 29th, 2012
12:39 pm
I am WHITE and in my 40’s can you please TRANSLATE that to American English?
CC at UGA
June 29th, 2012
12:47 pm
Looks like a set-up to me.
Probably a Tech fan or perhaps an Alabama fan caused this problem.
Why would a young Black man have a firearm in his vehicle?
It’s official: To UGA, Crowell IS more trouble than he’s worth | Mark Bradley
June 29th, 2012
12:47 pm
[...] defensive back. That was bad. This is worse: Isaiah Crowell, the 2011 SEC freshman of the year, was arrested in Athens early Friday on three weapons charges, two of them [...]
Ole Kin'Kade
June 29th, 2012
12:49 pm
Only one reason to alter a serial number on a weapon, beyond embarrasing Dawgs
That Dude Says...
June 29th, 2012
12:49 pm
Cheer up Bulldog fans… at least your not Penn St.
RollTIDE
June 29th, 2012
12:49 pm
Sounds like Carver High School is a breeding ground for criminals. This kid is stupid, he could have had it all. Instead he threw it away. Some idiots will never make it.
Fulmer cup
June 29th, 2012
12:49 pm
I thought Ray Drew was supposed to be the mentor/nanny for these lost souls!
truedawg
June 29th, 2012
12:50 pm
Cant blame coach for what players do when they have all the freedom to do as they please when they are not on the field! Thats like blaming your parents when you get arrested, time to grow up and take responsibility for his own actions!!!
GOOOO DAWGS!!!!!
Terry
June 29th, 2012
12:51 pm
I dropped my fried twinkie
June 29th, 2012
12:12 pm
RiverDawg
June 29th, 2012
12:02 pm
@ Old Guy, the report did not say the type of weapon and that he had an alternate id. One would only assume that he had fake id for himself.
Wake Up you MORON…………..you are showing you 65 IQ.
It was a 9mm Lugar with the serial number distorted.
This Poster is WHY people LAUGH at UGa fans. 19 pages of posts and radio stories and ths fool still doesn’t now the story.
=============================================================
Just because you have a high IQ, doesn’t make you a better person than anyone else, by your on post you’ve proven that, you could use some common Sense, but looking at this blog, your not alone.
Bronc
June 29th, 2012
12:51 pm
I want Crowell to make my license plate..since he did nothing for UGA..
dean
June 29th, 2012
12:52 pm
What a dumbass.
Joesnopy
June 29th, 2012
12:52 pm
megamicro Yes. Watch? He let the cops search the car without delay so do you thank the kid knew he was doing wrong.
Romey
June 29th, 2012
12:52 pm
UGA UGA UGA UGA UGA
Go DAAAaAAAAWWwWWgGGGGGGSSSsSS
Woof Woof
monty
June 29th, 2012
12:52 pm
3:30 in the morning? Leaving a nite club? Nothing but trouble can happen that time of the nite. Partying, fights from being liquored up, and police looking for those who’ve been partying.
Homepage | MrSEC
June 29th, 2012
12:53 pm
[...] to the recently released police report, three signees from Mark Richt’s 2012 class and another current Bulldog player were riding alon…when officers at a checkpoint smelled marijuana, searched the tailback’s car, and found a 9-mm [...]
Go to a real school
June 29th, 2012
12:53 pm
What would you expect from a liberal arts school. When you can’t get into college go to uga. Too bad, the SEC east was actually weak enough so uga might have actually had a chance. No worries, richt can go pray about it..
Romey
June 29th, 2012
12:54 pm
UGA UGA UGA UGA UGA
Woof Woof
Way to keep embarrasing Georgia and the SEC
JB
June 29th, 2012
12:56 pm
I hope is gone gone. Disturbing he had 3 true new true freshman in the car ” showing them the ropes”. I hope he doesn’t come back. I would rather go 6-6 without him. He’s a wanna be MTV gangsta and has no interest in this team, his teammates, his coach’s or his opportunity. A NFL career or Federal prison. I guess we know where he will end up. EVEN AFTER the Supreme Court ruling this week, there is SOME law left.
fan
June 29th, 2012
12:57 pm
typical uga players… im sure richt will let him back after 2 games. this kid is truly an idiot and deserves to be kicked off the team
Britt
June 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
HMMM! I will not listen to Jasper Sanks at all………….He might know something that I dont!!!!!
I dropped my fried twinkie
June 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
University of Ganja & Guns………………..
GTBuzz85
June 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
Seriously, something is fundamentally wrong at UGA. Why does this happen to so many football players? And don’t say that it happens everywhere. That isn’t true. Richt is a quality man. So what is the root cause here?
Civil Unrest
June 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
All of a sudden I have the munchies.
1 Adam 12
June 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
Smelled of Marijuana! I don’t believe that. It has got to be a mistake. What would Bobby Bowden do. Hug them and let them play? Cut them loose. Now. Today. The other 4 should be let go for being with that idiot.
JB
June 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
Response to real school guy. Most football “power” schools, this never shows up. He would be taken to the coach. The players from Bama,Au,Fla,LSU are from the same gene pool…….And yet they never seem to have a problem. Yea, right.
yep
June 29th, 2012
1:00 pm
what if the gun wasn’t his? what if is momma left it there?
Rev. Al Sharpton
June 29th, 2012
1:00 pm
Another victim of the White Power Structure.
Bronc
June 29th, 2012
1:00 pm
FireMarkRicht
June 29th, 2012
12:46 pm
you need a coach with a strong moral and ethical character.. i belive that this is what mark richt lacks… its time for georgia to fire his ass and all his staff… you dont hear about this from alabama or auburn or other top football programs.. Georgia Needs to get with the f’uggin Program
Man..I think you have been smoking pot..Richt is probably the most moral and ethical coach in football. Stop smoking or drinking and get your story straight..
joe taxpayer
June 29th, 2012
1:00 pm
CMR IS A GOOD MAN WE ARE LUCKEY TO HAVE HIM. Saban or Miles or Urban could not do better with Cromwell than CMR has!!!!!
Atlanta Native
June 29th, 2012
1:00 pm
Wow, if someone got kicked off the UGA Debate Team or something, would it provoke nearly 25 pages of comments? Maybe 1. I guess I keep forgetting that football is top of mind in my home town and across the South. I’m only interested because my two kids go to the school, and if students are carrying guns and smoking pot at the same time, I’m glad they are being caught by law enforcement.
JB
June 29th, 2012
1:01 pm
GTbuzz, see my 12:59 post.
TossSweep
June 29th, 2012
1:02 pm
He had dreads in high school like Ricky Williams. That should have been a dead give away. Did the cops search IC’s dreads to find the marijuana? Good grief!
Paul (I use my real name) Midler
June 29th, 2012
1:02 pm
As I said in an earlier post. His trouble could rub off on other players who may have never been in trouble before. And for everyone thats says I did a lot of stupid stuff as a kid……I did to. But I never touched a hand gun until I was 40 something yrs old. Almost 50 and have never shot one. I never loaned my mothers car, much less my car to anyone who MIGHT leave a gun with #’s scratched off in it. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a uck … it’s a duck.
Britt
June 29th, 2012
1:02 pm
Its also a Federal crime to have in ones possesion a firearm with an altered serial #
Mitch (the one in Rome)
June 29th, 2012
1:03 pm
Ok, I’m totally disappointed, but I do have a question: What if the gun is not his? What if there is a good explanation for it? What if it was one of the other player’s gun and he just took the rap because it’s “his” car? What if the gun belonged to his mother, to whom the care is registered? What if the gun belongs to one of his mom’s friends? There are lots of questions to be answered before we hang the young man out to dry.
If it is his, then shame on him for not have a permit and for breaking the law and he should be dismissed from the team. But if there is a good explanation people hanging him out to dry are going to look foolish. Just keep quiet until all comes out. That is what UGA is doing and that is smart.
Funyums Munchies
June 29th, 2012
1:04 pm
You can’t even drive around smoking weed in YOUR OWN car without getting hassled. I am sick of the Athens/UGA pigs.
Joesnopy
June 29th, 2012
1:04 pm
Plus, this is Georgia. You can not have a gun in Georgia. He is saying he did not know the gun was in the car. If his prints is not on it then he walks people. Four kids was in the car he let other kids drive the car so he maybe telling the truth. I do not know you do not know the truth but I know this we are so fast to kick kids to the curve.
WhineyUGA fans
June 29th, 2012
1:04 pm
Love watching the hob-nail boot get stuck in jawja…time and time again!!..and these little twit brained uga fans get on here and say, “well if you want to play for a good Christian man then come to jawja, if you want to be lied to go to Bama”..LOLOLOLOL…once again you have been female dog slapped across the face. uga is toilet water….im guessing you could probably get a team picture by photo shopping all the mug shots of the jawja players..
Wreckmaniac
June 29th, 2012
1:05 pm
Is the Clarke County lockup big enough to hold the entire UGA team ? If not, they better start expanding because CMR has about 225 “schollies” out there now, right ?
Tide Rising
June 29th, 2012
1:05 pm
I remember telling the dawg fans on here this prima donna was vastly overrated and would wash out. Just another typical day of another dawg player getting arrested. Isn’t that close to 50 arrests/police contacts for dawg players over the last 4 years? What a renegade program.
Winder
June 29th, 2012
1:05 pm
Richt looked the other way (again) at serious character & academic issues with Crowell. That trend continues and that is disappointing to this fan.
Gatormeat
June 29th, 2012
1:06 pm
It makes one wonder what kind of people send their kids to georgia in the first place. You don’t have this kind of mess often down here and Florida is a better school overall anyway. If a highly rated recruit wanted a good place to go, Gainsville is much better than athens, if they are too stupid to understand that we don’t need them down here. The dogs will take anybody, not us.
Wreckmaniac
June 29th, 2012
1:06 pm
Does UGA allow him to carry a gun while he’s playing ?
robodawg
June 29th, 2012
1:06 pm
Marshall (just out of high school) and Henry (still in high school) offer the best wisdom here.
Don’t rush to conclusions. Wait and see what the investigation finds, then Richt can decide what’s in everybody’s best interest.
Kirby Smart
June 29th, 2012
1:07 pm
Here at Alabama, the police know “never arrest a player without Saban’s approval.”
Wreckmaniac
June 29th, 2012
1:09 pm
I think this requires a one-half game suspension.
Old Dawg
June 29th, 2012
1:09 pm
When will mark Richt quit signing these hoods. Need to keep a close look on the other four. sounds like they are heading down the same road. Let’s go back to the Dooley days when things like this didnt happen.
robodawg
June 29th, 2012
1:09 pm
You don’t see these problems in Gainesville b/c the police department is in the athletic department’s back pocket. Urban’s discipline was notoriously lax.