“According to Athens-Clarke police spokesperson Hilda Sorrow, [University of Georgia sophomore tailback Isaiah] Crowell was arrested at a ‘vehicle check-point’ — or road block — on East Campus Road at Green Street at 2:20 a.m. Friday.” freep.com reports that “Officer Kristin Thornton reported smelling the odor of marijuana in Crowell’s 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis. Crowell gave consent to search the vehicle, himself and four other unnamed occupants. No marijuana was discovered but a 9-mm Luger handgun with an altered serial number was found under the driver’s seat. Crowell was immediately arrested and taken to jail and the car was impounded.” Is it me or is there enough here to think the cops may not be as legal as they wanna be, and Crowell may not be as dirty as he seems? Why not suspend the young man and see how the case shakes down? Nope. Bulldog head coach Mark Richt dismissed Crowell. Isaiah who? “Our total focus will be directed toward the team and this effort.” I wonder where Crowell will be in ten years.
a lot of our laws suck. weed should be legal. but it isn’t. and breaking laws, even bad ones, comes with a price. young people with their future before them, need to think before they act. every chance i get i vote to make weed legal, and i don’t even use it. i just recognize dumb laws, which is also why i vote pro gun always.
Georgia law states that he couldn’t conceal the gun, except for glove boxes and consoles, unless you have a permit. He’s under 21, so he doesn’t. Plus, the serial number was altered. I agree that cops can be over zealous, but this one seems on the up and up. I know how ACC police work. Even in a college town, I was never bothered when I chose to open carry. Georgia is my alma mater, you know.
Plus, he’s been a lot of trouble for one year on campus. It’s not like this was his first issue. He was suspended twice last year.
If he had not already been in trouble this year, he might have been suspended while the charges for having a gun on campus went through the court system. But considering his other suspensions this year and the altered serial number, that was probably just the last straw.
10 years from now he’ll probably be wishing he had made better decisions.
Castle Doctrine even allows guns in cars on campus now, so they couldn’t even really get him on that. Has to be the serial number thing.
Forgot to mention, he also played the, a lot of people drive my car, that’s not mine line.
If that were true, then it might not be his. Sounds like this guy has made a lot of stupid choices, and voluntarily submitting to a search of his car was VERY stupid.
If you don’t know the car is clean and that’s impossible to know, don’t let LEOs search it. Has your car been driven by valet parking, or by a mechanic? Do you KNOW that one of them didn’t smoke a joint while he was in your car? Did one of your passengers stash his dope or crack under the seat, then forget to pick it up before he got out? How about the people who owned it before you bought it? You are accused based on the contents of your car even if you didn’t put it there or even know it had been put there. NEVER voluntarily submit to a vehicle search. NEVER.
Yea, cause I have found all sorts of guns with serial numbers scratched off in my car before when I lent it out. Also found a body once and some drugs and Jimmy Hoffa and a grenade that other time…
Reminds me of that story where the guy was arrested with a gun and dozens of baggies of drugs in his pockets and claimed….”These arent my pants”
Maybe LEO did smell mary-jane. It is possible when he and his pals found out what the traffic was stopping for they dumped it before the checkpoint. Speculation? Yes. Plausible? Yes. Fact? Unknown.
Anyway gun, not where it’s supposed to be, and with an ALTERED serial… not good anyway. Those who tote guns, need to be reasonably within the laws. (Was it reasonable to have the gun in a legal place? Yes. Was it reasonable to have the serial number altered? Not in any case I can think of. Besides, if your gun gets stolen… you need that serial to report just in case some gang-banger offs someone with it, dumps it, and it’s found and forensics trace it as the weapon, and the serial says its yours.)
Yes, he’s young, and prone to do some stupid things. Irregardless of the legality of mary-jane. It does slow you down and that’s not good behind the wheel, operating heavy equipment, or behind a gun.
Irregardless is not a word. Sorry, it irks me.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irregardless
Merriam-Webster disagrees, but it is non-standard… and primarily used in speech. So, just pretend I used the word “regardless” instead if that helps.
Are you kidding me? Under 21 with a handgun under his seat and the serial numbers scratched off……and your comment is “are the police as legal as they wanna be?”
You got to be kidding me. He volunteered to let them search it and even if he didnt, which he did, police are able to search the “lunge area” for their own safety….many court decisions establishing this. As well as common sense.
I have to agree with you. This guy is not a model citizen—typical of who gets recruited to play ball in the SEC, unfortunately.
Being underaged and in possession of a handgun isn’t a big deal, to me. But having one with an altered serial number means two things. One, the gun is probably stolen. Two, the person in possession of said gun was up to no good and wanted an untraceable handgun.
I’m sure the football players in your neck of the woods are so much more better characters. Please. 6 nattys in a row.
I know some very good men that played for the University of Tennessee. They were good Christian men and good citizens. That being said, we also some bad ones that got caught in a situation a lot like this. But Mike, don’t paint with too broad a stroke. You will often paint some things the wrong color.
It’s a Federal crime to possess a firearm with an altered serial number, no? He’s in for a long vacation on the government’s dime. When he gets out, he can see if Plaxico Burress’s team is hiring.
It’s not that difficult to drive a car without having a gun under the seat with a scratched off SN. Most of us do it all the time.
For his sake he better know how to do more than play football, he is in college after all.
In ten years he’ll be an elected politician.
In NYC, every person in the car, no matter where they are or where the gun is located, is presumed to be in possession of the gun and would be charged with a felony. The presumption is rebuttable, meaning that the person charged must show by clear and convincing evidence that he or she was not in possession of the gun.
Disclaimer:UGA Student, Life long Bulldogs fan and someone who agrees with the majority of the postings here.
Richt had no choice but to remove Crowell and I applaud him for doing so. IC has been suspended for failing drug tests before (for weed, I believe). Innocent enough, but it violates the team’s rules and warranted a suspension. But committing a felony that looks, walks, smells and quacks like he’s dealing drugs… like I said, Richt had no choice.
As for the 10 years question…
If his story checks out and he really an angel and can get out of this with a slap on the wrist, he’ll likely take the Cam Newton/Zach Mettenberger (also booted by Richt http://bleacherreport.com/articles/387574-ex-uga-qb-mettenberger-pleads-guilty-to-sexual-battery) route: Play a year at a Junior College where he’ll put up insane stats. He’ll then immediately get scouted by a D1 Team and then get his fair chance to end up in the NFL.
If he’s convicted of the felony… well you know those statistics. And Richt’s suspension v. expulsion debate is null and void.
For a guy in COLLEGE, he didn’y show much in the “smarts” dept. Oh, yeah, I forgot, he is a football player. Lets see, 5 guys in a car at 2:20 AM with a loaded gun that has altered serial numbers on it. Maybe the pot smell is legit, or maybe the the cop smells pot in every single car he stops to use as probable cause, I don’t know. But Mr. Crowell SHOULD have been in his dorm room studying, instead of hanging with his peeps at o’dark thirty with a gun. Sorry, but I have litle sympathy for guys that get to go to top colleges for free because they can run fast and hit people.
uh, you smell mary jane? ok, your gonna need to go get your warrant. Thanks. I respectfully refrain from answering any more questions. Thanks.
I wonder where Crowell will be in ten years.
Probably still doing drugs and carrying illegal weapons, among other things. PS…the smell of marijuana is probable cause for search…no warrant needed.
I had already heard about this story yesterday and was surprised to see that a story from my beloved GA had finally made it on TTAG. (Note: I am life long Bulldog fan and both me and my wife graduated from UGA).
1. Mark Richt (head coach) is notorious for having players get in trouble with the law, violate team rules, etc. Usually he just suspends them a few games and then business goes about as usually and nobody learns their lesson. I’m glad that he finally took decisive action on one.
2. That being said, we have to give Crowell some benefit of the doubt and at least entertain the possibility that the gun is not his and he didn’t know it was there. The type of company he keeps does make that possible.
3. Crowell has had problems with authority and following the rules since he got to UGA. That track record does not lend well to him.
4. I was never impressed with him as a running back and I’m not sad to see him gone, though I do not want to see him convicted for something he did not do (though my gut tells me he is guilty).
ten years from now he’ll be a millionaire RB in the NFL doing the same stupid things.
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