Jalen Carter charges latest in accumulation of arrests for Georgia football players

INDIANAPOLIS — Star defensive tackle Jalen Carter became at least the third member of Georgia football’s 2022 national championship team to be charged with reckless driving, a fourth was charged with DUI and a fifth was alleged to have gone 34 miles over the speed limit when he was arrested.

In total, nine Georgia players have been arrested in the last 13-and-a-half months.

Police charged Carter Wednesday for reckless driving and for drag racing Jan. 15 with UGA recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy from downtown Athens at about 2:30 a.m. when she crashed a Ford Expedition being rented by UGA athletics on Barnett Shoals Road.

Police say she was going 104 miles per hour. She and offensive lineman Devin Willock died. Her blood alcohol limit was .197, more than twice the legal limit.

More:An emotional Nolan Smith on loss of teammate Devin Willock: '77, you’re living forever'

More:NFL GMs address how teams will view UGA football's Jalen Carter now as draft prospect

Five days earlier, police allege UGA inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson was racing his Dodge Charger on College Station Road side-by-side with another vehicle, going at least 75 miles per hour. He was charged last week with reckless driving and racing for the incident that came the night after Georgia’s national championship win in California.

Asked Wednesday about the accumulation of UGA arrests in the last year and how Georgia plans to address it, the school pointed to previous statements.

“The alleged conduct does not reflect our program’s values or the high standards we have established,” UGA athletics said after Damon-Johnson’s arrest.

Coach Kirby Smart, who was in Indianapolis Thursday for an NCAA rules committee meeting, has not spoken to reporters since Jan. 10, five days before the fatal crash, but issued a statement after warrants were taken out for Carter’s arrest Wednesday.

“The charges announced today are deeply concerning, especially as we are still struggling to cope with the devastating loss of two beloved members of our community,” he said. “We will continue to cooperate fully with the authorities while supporting these families and assessing what we can learn from this horrible tragedy.”

The latest news on Carter was covered on the BBC website and made national news on the NBC Nightly News Wednesday night

Cornerback Kelee Ringo and safety Chris Smith said Thursday at the NFL combine that the arrests by their now former teammates didn’t say anything about the Georgia football program in particular.

“No sir, not at all,” Smith said.

“That has nothing to do with the program,” Ringo said. “Different people have their different reasons for what they do. To be a grown man, you have to be responsible for what you’re doing specifically. Character-wise, I don’t have anything to say on any of my teammates. Just of course, to which much is given, much is expected. You have to be able to realize that.”

Smith declined to comment further as he did when he received several other questions from reporters related to Carter and the crash.

“I’m praying for him and everybody involved in that situation that he’s in right now,” Smith said.

Carter turned himself in late Wednesday night in Athens on the charges against him and bonded out. He returned to Indianapolis Thursday to finish activities including interviews and measurements, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.

Another Georgia player was involved in another crash last year.

Running back Kenny McIntosh was driving a Dodge Challenger on April 25 in Athens that crashed at 4 a.m. going 20 miles over the speed limit when it collided with a Kia Sol driven by a woman from Stone Mountain. She was taken to a hospital. McIntosh was charged with reckless driving and failure to wear a seat belt.

Outside linebacker Nolan Smith faced charges of speeding in a construction zone when police said he went 89 miles per hour in a 55 zone on Jan. 19, 2022 in Winder. Smith completed a pre-trial diversion program.

Defensive back Javon Bullard, the defensive MVP of the Peach Bowl and national championship game, was arrested on a DUI charge on Sept. 25. That was one of seven misdemeanors he faced including failing to maintain lane and improper turning.

That was one of three alcohol-related arrests for Georgia players from last year’s team.

Star quarterback Stetson Bennett was charged with public intoxication in Dallas less than three weeks after his final game in a Bulldog uniform. Long snapper William Mote was arrested for criminal damage to property for destroying a window at a downtown Athens law office in January 2022. Mote told police he was intoxicated.

The charge was dismissed prior to indictment. Mote paid for the window valued at $190 and apologized.

“I can speak on those guys characters and those guys character to me is they’re the best person in the room," kicker Jack Podlesny said. "They’ve always been upright guys to me. They’ve always been somebody who has treated me with respect. That’s what I can speak on. I think Georgia football is trying to keep that going and keep the generations growing.”

The other two arrests:

— Transfer wide receiver Rara Thomas from Mississippi State was charged with felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery/family violence for allegedly bruising a female's bicep and causing abrasions to her shins in a campus dorm room.

— Defensive lineman Warren Brinson was charged with two misdemeanors of simple battery for firing a gel pellet gun at three people on a sidewalk near a UGA dorm.

Carter was also pulled over by Athens-Clarke County police last September for going 89 mph in a 45 and received three citations including speeding.

The officer who pulled him over told him that two other football players who are not part of the publicly known arrests were stopped by him including one going 70 shortly before Carter.

“You all need to slow down, dude,” the officer said according to body camera footage released to the Athens Banner-Herald Thursday. “Your break is that you’re not going to jail because it will make all kind of news.”

The officer later told Carter what he did was “reckless.”

Less than four months later, Athens-Clarke County police again allege that Carter was being reckless when he was racing LeCroy in the fatal crash.

Georgia recently listed a job online for a coordinator of player development. The job description describes the position as “responsible for the off-the-field activities of student athletes included but not limited to providing advice and counsel related to life skills, academic success, personal development and community involvement.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Nine players from UGA football have been arrested since January 2022