There’s a rather bizarre story coming out of Georgia this morning as a trio of high school football players being recruited by the Bulldogs have been charged following, for lack of a better phrase, a locker room incident.
On April 7, several items, including iPhones and iPods, were stolen from the lockers of several players during what was described as an open house event on the campus. A subsequent investigation, which included a sweep of homes in Columbus, Ga., revealed that three recruits who were guest of the school during the event allegedly stole what was more than $1,300 worth of merchandise belonging to members of the football program.
Dawgs 24/7.com reports that arrest warrants were issued for Deion Bonner and Marquise Hawkins, as well as an unnamed juvenile, Friday morning. Bonner was charged with one count of theft by taking, while Hawkins was hit with two of the same count. The juvenile was charged with three counts.
It’s unclear, the Athens Banner-Herald reports, whether any of the three have actually been arrested yet.
"[They were] over here visiting. They were down in the football area and they were guests of football operations,” university police chief Jimmy Williamson told the paper.
“I understand that we recovered all the iPods, but we didn’t recover the iPhones. They had already been sold and changed hands several times.”
Bonner, a cornerback from Columbus, was named to the “Rivals250 to watch 2012” list, and has received offers from, among others, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Miami and both USCs. We’re guessing that his offer from UGA may get pulled at some point in the very near future, if it hasn’t already.
Hawkins is a soon-to-be junior quarterback at Carver High School in Columbus.
UPDATED 10:18 a.m. ET: Seth Emerson of the Macon Telegraph reports via Twitter that Bonner and Hawkins “have been booked at the Clarke County jail as of 9:05” this morning.
UPDATED 1:23 p.m. ET: The Atlanta Journal Constitution writes that they have “learned that Hawkins is not a college football prospect. Marquise Hawkins is the twin brother of Carver-Columbus quarterback Marqui Hawkins, who is a 2013 recruiting prospect.”