A woeful offseason for Arkansas off the field continues Saturday, with word that a couple more Razorbacks have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
According to ArkansasNews.com, three UA football players were arrested this afternoon and charged with residential burglary. The three facing charges are wide receivers Marquel Wade and Maudrecus Humphrey and redshirt freshman tight end Andrew Peterson.
The trio was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on the single charge each earlier today.
There are no details available as to what led to the arrests, nor has the school commented on the development.
Wade, Humphrey and Peterson are the fourth, fifth and sixth UA football players arrested since the middle of March on charges ranging from felony theft of property (offensive lineman Jason Peacock) to possession of a controlled substance/paraphernalia (wide receiver Michael Whitehurst) to aggravated burglary and theft of property (linebacker Tyler Gilbert). Additionally, Bobby Petrino was ousted as head coach for, well, ya know, while another wide receiver, Quinta Funderburk, and another linebacker, Brock Haman, decided to transfer out of the program.
Also, starting linebacker linebacker Alonzo Highsmith missed all of spring practice with a left pec injury, and his status for the start of the 2012 season remains up in the air.
Other than that, it’s been a relatively quiet offseason in Fayetteville.
As far as the latest players arrested are concerned, Wade, a sophomore, had eight receptions for 62 yards last year, while Humphrey, a junior, had one catch for nine yards. Both players were listed as No. 2 wide receivers on UA’s pre-spring depth chart.
Peterson redshirted as a true freshman last season.
UPDATED 2:53 p.m. ET: According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Humphrey and Peterson were each charged with nine counts of burglary, while Wade was charged with one count. It’s unclear whether all or just some of the charges are misdemeanors.
The Democrat-Gazette, citing a university police report, writes that the three are accused of stealing multiple items - including cash, laptops, DVDs and textbooks - from university dorm rooms. Arkansas360.com notes that the value of the property allegedly stolen exceeds $4,800, which could bring the “f” word into play.
UPDATED 3:08 p.m. ET: Head coach-for-2012 John L. Smith announced shortly after the arrests surfaced that all three players have been suspended indefinitely from the football program.
“We have high standards for our student-athletes and I expect them to conduct themselves appropriately,” Smith’s statement read. “Poor conduct and misbehavior will not be tolerated and is not what we expect from the University of Arkansas football program.”
The newly-arrested trio join White Hurst and Gilbert on the suspended list. Peacock was reinstated a couple of weeks after his arrest.
Further details have also emerged on what led to the players’ arrests:UAPD responded to a call regarding a residential burglary from a dorm room on May 1. The female victim started she had a laptop stolen from her unlocked room, according to the report.
Over the next seven days, UAPD took a total of 10 reports from the Northwest Quad buildings. ...
UAPD reviewed video from the locations, according to the report. Three suspects identified as Peterson, Humphrey and Wade walked through hallways, checked doors and entered rooms.
A clerk in the Campus Bookstore later identified Peterson, Humphrey and Wade as having been in the store “multiple times” selling textbooks. Textbooks and other stolen property also were recovered from Peterson’s suite in the Northwest Quads.