Cavs’ Jackson faces charges after arrest
The streak of University of Virginia football players running into legal trouble grew longer Wednesday when starting junior fullback Rashawn Lamont Jackson was charged with grand larceny and breaking and entering.
The felony charges stem from a Nov. 22 theft at Cauthen Dorm, according to UVa police Lt. Melissa Fielding.
Jackson, a 21-year-old from Jersey City, N.J., had a bond hearing Wednesday morning in Albemarle County General District Court. It could not be determined whether he received bond by The Daily Progress’ deadline.
“At this time, Rashawn Jackson is still a participating member of the football team,” said Craig Littlepage, UVa’s athletics director. “This matter will be handled within the team and the athletics department, and his final status with the team will not be determined until such time as the legal process is resolved or additional information becomes available.”
UVa has pulled off a string of surprising upsets of late, but there have been numerous disappointments off the field this season.
In January, the team announced that four of its players were no longer enrolled at UVa, including sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell, junior cornerback Chris Cook, redshirt freshman wide receiver Chris Dalton and redshirt freshman linebacker Darnell Carter. The players left the university for academic reasons, according to sources.
The following month, cornerback Mike Brown was arrested and accused of stealing stereo equipment and trying to sell it on eBay. A grand jury certified his case and it remains in the court system. He is no longer on the team.
In April, redshirt freshman J’Courtney Rydell Williams was arrested on a credit card theft charge. He pleaded guilty in May and received a four-day jail sentence. Coach Al Groh kicked him off the team shortly after his arrest.
In July, two players were charged with stealing beer from Club 216. They were cleared earlier this month in Charlottesville General District Court.
But one of the players, Dave Roberts, pleaded guilty to possession of a fake ID and entered a pre-conviction probation program. He is still on the team roster.
Roberts agreed to take part in the same program former UVa quarterback Peter Lalich enrolled in for similar charges. Lalich drank alcohol while in the program and was kicked off the team. He has since left UVa.
Reader Reactions
3.0, hmmmm, maybe they commit the white collar crimes or… they just hadn’t got caught yet…
nkscouting, You have got to be kidding… I’m so sick of Al Groh getting blamed for every single thing that goes wrong. These young men are responsible for their actions and please don’t try to sell the theory that the higher GPA the LESS LIKELY you are to commit a crime. There’s more than enough crime commited by the “smarter”.
Howard3, the players from the summer were cleared by the courts of wrong doing. Do you believe that they are guilty after being found innocent. Wouldnt want you as a lawyer.
If the law doesn’t get them, the Honor Code will. I’m surprised that the two players charged with stealing beer are still in school, as stealing is an Honor Code violation. Or did no one report the violation to the Honor committee?
Al Groh is the one who brings these guys on campus: players with 3.0 GPA’s and good college board scores are much LESS-LIKELY to do things like this in college.
Can we replace “A Committment To Excellence” with “Virginia Athletics: Lying, Stealing, and Cheating” because of the football program?
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