Florida Football: Two arrested on felony charges after BB gun incident
A pair of Florida freshmen were arrested on felony charges stemming from a BB gun incident.
Two freshmen on Jim McElwain’s Florida Gators football team were arrested after firing a BB gun at dorm room windows near the Keys Residential Complex.
According to the police report, Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells were charged with third-degree felony property damage and second-degree weapons felony for “shooting a missile into a dwelling.”
Granted, that description sounds a lot more serious than shooting a BB gun, but, that’s the charge.
According to CBS Sports, Cleveland and Wells were identified through video surveillance and fully cooperated with the arresting officers by admitting to shooting out the windows and turning over their BB guns.
It remains to be seen what McElwain will do in response to the arrest, but he will likely want to wait to see if the charges are lessened before making a final decision.
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Cleveland was a four-star recruit from Houston who was the Gators highest-ranked offensive recruit and could challenge for early playing time, especially with Antonio Callaway still suspended.
Wells was a three-star recruit out of Jacksonville.
Clearly, this is not a good look for either of the two freshmen and they could face a suspension in addition to whatever punishment they receive from the legal system. In their defense, shooting out windows with a BB gun is far from the most egregious transgression you’ll hear college football players committing, so they certainly deserve a second chance to make things right.
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I don’t think for a second these players will be dismissed by any stretch but it will be an opportunity for McElwain to discipline his players to make sure nothing like this happens again.