Thursday, February 2, 2012

Two football players add to team’s legal woes

By on July 19, 2007

<b>KING</b>
 
KING
<b>TAYLOR</b>
 
TAYLOR

The headaches keep piling up for the University football team, as two more players found themselves in legal trouble this week.

Freshman running back Caleb King, a star recruit who is expected to challenge for playing time this fall, was arrested by University police Monday night on two misdemeanor traffic violations.

According to the police report, King was pulled over by University police for driving his 2005 Schwinn Sport Moped the wrong direction on Sanford Drive at the Journalism building.

A check of his name and date of birth revealed his license was suspended and served for serious violations on June 15 of this year, the police report says.

He was placed under arrest minutes later and charged with driving on a suspended license and driving the wrong way down a one-way road.

King, 19, was booked into the Athens-Clarke County Jail at 11:39 Monday night and released on a $2,000 bond at 12:16 Tuesday morning.

Also, sophomore defensive lineman Paul “Tripp” Taylor turned himself in to police Tuesday after being charged Monday with misdemeanor simple assault then was released on a $675 bond, according to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

Taylor, 20, of Woodstock, was named as a suspect in the May 25 incident that left two teenage football players at Etowah High School injured, one seriously.

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office release says the victims were 16 and 17 years of age, and the 16-year-old victim received a severe injury to his eye. The 17-year-old received minor injuries.

The police report of the incident details the following: The two teens were at a park when they were approached by two males.

One of the teens said he was cutting a piece of wood with a pocket knife when he was approached by one of the suspects asking him what he was doing. The teen told him is was none of his business, and that’s when the suspect took the knife from him and pressed it to his throat, according to the report.

The other teen told the suspect to let him go, but he was then punched in the face by the other suspect, the report said. The teen then said he placed one of the suspects in a headlock and pulled him off the other teen. The teens said they began to walk away when they saw a group of approximately eight males walking toward them. One of the teens was then hit in the face with a baseball bat and kicked and punched.

The report then says the other teen ran into the woods, where he was found by several other males, stripped of his clothes, punched, kicked and urinated on.

According to Associate Athletic Director Claude Felton, “Coach Richt is aware of the incident (with Taylor). He will not make any decisions on potential discipline until he’s certain he knows all the facts and/or the charges have been resolved.

“I understand the offense is a misdemeanor and as such, normally the Athletic Association policy leaves the level of discipline up to the discretion of the head coach.”

If suspended, Taylor could join tight end Tripp Chandler, quarterback Blake Barnes, center Ian Smith and linebacker Akeem Hebron as players who will miss the Sept. 1 opener against Oklahoma State due to legal troubles.

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