Gator, Ex-Gator, and Ex-LSU Tiger Arrested... For Throwing Sandwich

[gatorunvrsty]

Gator starter, ex-Gator jailed on battery charge

By ROBBIE ANDREU and LISE FISHER
Sun staff writers
11:33 am, December 5, 2007

Florida starting defensive end Jermaine Cunningham's arrest for misdemeanor battery early Wednesday morning has put his status for the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl in limbo.

"Once I know the whole thing, I'll let you know what we're going to do. I'll let you know how serious it is," UF coach Urban Meyer said after Wednesday's practice. "I'm kind of getting some reports. It sounds like complete ignorance, which in my world I have to deal with a lot."

Cunningham and former UF linebacker Jonathan Demps were arrested for allegedly hitting a restaurant worker with a sandwich and empty cups during a verbal altercation over a bag of chips. Also arrested and jailed was Olympic hopeful and former LSU wide receiver Xavier Carter, 21. Carter was arrested for resisting an officer without violence.

A judge ordered that Cunningham and Demps be released on their own recognizance following their initial court appearance Wednesday, court records showed. The men also were told they could not go back to the restaurant or have contact with the employee and must abide by a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, with exceptions made only for work or school. Carter also was released on his own recognizance.

An employee at Jimmy John's restaurant, 1724 W. University Ave., told police Cunningham and Demps began to cause a disturbance after he told them they needed to pay for a bag of potato chips, a police report stated. The two became verbally abusive toward the man and hit him with a sandwich and empty soda cups. The incident occurred at about 2:15 a.m.

Cunningham and Demps fled shortly before police arrived, according to officers, but were located soon after on the UF campus.

An officer also saw Carter walking with Cunningham and Demps on University Avenue after the incident at the restaurant. Police reported that Carter started running when he saw the patrol car's lights begin flashing and the officer get out of the vehicle. He also was found on campus and arrested.

Carter, who is from Palm Bay in Brevard County, is a professional track and field athlete and Olympic hopeful. He had been a star on Louisiana State University's track and field team and football team. He recently moved to Gainesville to train under UF track coach Mike Holloway.

Demps was dismissed from the UF football team during the spring semester for violating unspecified team and university rules. He has remained in school with hopes of eventually returning.

Cunningham, a true sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., started all 12 games this season and is tied for the team lead with six sacks. He had 62 total tackles, including 11 for a loss.

Meyer said he does not plan instituting a curfew in the wake of this latest early morning trouble involving one of his players.

"I talked to them about it, but I'm not going to be out chasing them around," Meyer said. "What I have to do is really develop and recruit guys that I think are going to be going to bed on time. We just have to keep teaching them. I have curfew when we go on the road, but I'm not going to do that. Either eliminate them or discipline them and try not to let it happen again."


:blink:I'm not really sure what's more stupid... these guys throwing a sandwich over an argument about a .40 bag of chips; this employee calling the police alleging assault over a thrown sandwich; or the police responding to a report of a thrown sandwich, with real criminals running around. Sounds like plenty of stupidity to go around.:brick:

[dcbl]

:blink:I'm not really sure what's more stupid... these guys throwing a sandwich over an argument about a .40 bag of chips; this employee calling the police alleging assault over a thrown sandwich; or the police responding to a report of a thrown sandwich, with real criminals running around. Sounds like plenty of stupidity to go around.:brick:

Uh - how about the boys running when they saw police lights?

Shows a guilty conscience... I agree though, the people at the restaurant AND the cops over reacted - totally ridiculous.

I hope theydon't wind up being in trouble for this.

[GatorHunter]

Gator starter, ex-Gator jailed on battery charge

By ROBBIE ANDREU and LISE FISHER
Sun staff writers
11:33 am, December 5, 2007

Florida starting defensive end Jermaine Cunningham's arrest for misdemeanor battery early Wednesday morning has put his status for the Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl in limbo.

"Once I know the whole thing, I'll let you know what we're going to do. I'll let you know how serious it is," UF coach Urban Meyer said after Wednesday's practice. "I'm kind of getting some reports. It sounds like complete ignorance, which in my world I have to deal with a lot."

Cunningham and former UF linebacker Jonathan Demps were arrested for allegedly hitting a restaurant worker with a sandwich and empty cups during a verbal altercation over a bag of chips. Also arrested and jailed was Olympic hopeful and former LSU wide receiver Xavier Carter, 21. Carter was arrested for resisting an officer without violence.

A judge ordered that Cunningham and Demps be released on their own recognizance following their initial court appearance Wednesday, court records showed. The men also were told they could not go back to the restaurant or have contact with the employee and must abide by a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew, with exceptions made only for work or school. Carter also was released on his own recognizance.

An employee at Jimmy John's restaurant, 1724 W. University Ave., told police Cunningham and Demps began to cause a disturbance after he told them they needed to pay for a bag of potato chips, a police report stated. The two became verbally abusive toward the man and hit him with a sandwich and empty soda cups. The incident occurred at about 2:15 a.m.

Cunningham and Demps fled shortly before police arrived, according to officers, but were located soon after on the UF campus.

An officer also saw Carter walking with Cunningham and Demps on University Avenue after the incident at the restaurant. Police reported that Carter started running when he saw the patrol car's lights begin flashing and the officer get out of the vehicle. He also was found on campus and arrested.

Carter, who is from Palm Bay in Brevard County, is a professional track and field athlete and Olympic hopeful. He had been a star on Louisiana State University's track and field team and football team. He recently moved to Gainesville to train under UF track coach Mike Holloway.

Demps was dismissed from the UF football team during the spring semester for violating unspecified team and university rules. He has remained in school with hopes of eventually returning.

Cunningham, a true sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., started all 12 games this season and is tied for the team lead with six sacks. He had 62 total tackles, including 11 for a loss.

Meyer said he does not plan instituting a curfew in the wake of this latest early morning trouble involving one of his players.

"I talked to them about it, but I'm not going to be out chasing them around," Meyer said. "What I have to do is really develop and recruit guys that I think are going to be going to bed on time. We just have to keep teaching them. I have curfew when we go on the road, but I'm not going to do that. Either eliminate them or discipline them and try not to let it happen again."


:blink:I'm not really sure what's more stupid... these guys throwing a sandwich over an argument about a .40 bag of chips; this employee calling the police alleging assault over a thrown sandwich; or the police responding to a report of a thrown sandwich, with real criminals running around. Sounds like plenty of stupidity to go around.:brick:

Stupid college behavior...and really stupid police action. How do you charge someone with "battery" for throwing a sandwich? Although, while at UF, I have a friend that was arrested for throwing "change" at a cashier...:D

In other news, it's also being reported that, later that night, Tony Joiner went into the establishment and retrieved the sandwich from under a table...:whistle:J/K.

[Bulldog Bry]

I wasn't there, so I don't know, but intimidating people is not as harmless as it sounds. Would I have called the police? Probably not, but these guys are big bad football players causing a disturbance in the middle of the night. I bet the cashier and everyone in there was under six feet tall. Other than Grady being on the internet, nothing good happens from 1am to 5am.

Akeem Hebron, a former and future UGA recruit had a second arrest for underage drinking and during the confrontation with a bouncer (who wouldn't let him in a club) he made a gun like gesture and pointed it at him. It's that kind of stuff that these guys need to be disciplined on early, so they won't think they can get away with anything.

Cunningham doesn't need to go to jail, but I'm bettin that Meyer will have a good talk with him about not getting what you want in society.

[Gator2753]

Assult with a deadly lunchmeat. Perfect

[adamsputnik]

I have it on good authority that those sandwiches were very sharp. I think it was the cheddar...

[nellanaesp]

There had to be more to the story that the publishers wont tell or don't know. It was at 2am so the restaurant workers probably suspected them of being drunk or something. I just don't see anyone calling the cops over a thrown sandwich and a couple cups. That happened all the time at my high school . .

[FightinTiger71]

This is a foot long club sandwich, the most powerful sandwich in the world and it would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

[KillerNut]

Florida might out do Miami FL for having the most players getting into trouble in a single year. :ohmy: I would have never expected this kind of behavior from a team coached by Urban Meyer but I can understand the situation if Zook was still coach. He is known for recruiting shady players that are troublemakers.

[GatorHunter]

Florida might out do Miami FL for having the most players getting into trouble in a single year. :ohmy: I would have never expected this kind of behavior from a team coached by Urban Meyer but I can understand the situation if Zook was still coach. He is known for recruiting shady players that are troublemakers.

Actually, it was rather quiet in Gainesville until the infamous "Sandwich Incident".

[BAMAPERRY]

You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the boy.

[lacene]

lol, battery by a sammich and solo cups. This should put Florida over the top for the Fulmer Cup, for sure......

[crusse10]

jimmy johns ROCKS.
love those sandwiches so much.

oh, and the workers at jimmy johns on campuses nationwide put up with alot of crap all the time. if you had a starting defensive lineman threatening you, wouldn't you be scared?
also, my guess is that they said "what are you gonna do to me? i'm on the football team. you can't do anything to me."
and the worker probably said "oh yeah, how bout i call the cops?"
...so he did

[KillerNut]

You have to admit that getting arrested and charged with assault & battery for throwing a sandwich is pretty damn funny. I can just see it.......

"I said NO F'N MAYONAISE B*TCH!!!! :laugh:

[sheluvsbama]

This is absurd. The most silly thing I have heard in a long time!

[lacene]

And the whole thing started over a bag of chips. Jeez, just pay the man the $0.60......

[gatorunvrsty]

This is the most ridiculous thing ever. I've seen this happen as a customer, and I've been working at an establishment when it was done to a co-worker. Just not with sandwiches. Here's what happened: Employee alerts manager like he's trained to do. Manager asks customer what problem is. If manager isn't satisfied with customer's response, or situation deteriorates, manager bans customer from property or establishment. If customer then takes it a step further, and actually does assault somebody, then they call the police. Only the LSU guy ran from the police... he's a potential Olympic track star; he probably figured he could outrun them.

KN, give the ThugU comparisons a rest... you know that's silly. Miami police don't get called for sandwich throwing; and would laugh in your face if you tried it. They obviously, unlike Gainesville police, have much more serious matters to attend to. Miami players are already expected to exhibit behavior like that, and get passes on stuff other ones may not. ThugU legal troubles usually involve hurling lead, not lunch meat. It looks like it follows them around, too; as it now appears Sean Taylor was killed partly as a robbery, but also as a vendetta from his days at ThugU.

I guarantee you there are probably hundreds of incidents like this at every school in the nation that never get reported. If it did, we'd have a new thread for a new school every day. Our kids come from the same neighborhoods and backgrounds as everybody else's; and Meyer is hardly lax on discipline. I'm sure nobody ever even thinks to actually call the authorities over it. In this case, somebody did.

[sheluvsbama]

This is the most ridiculous thing ever. I've seen this happen as a customer, and I've been working at an establishment when it was done to a co-worker. Just not with sandwiches. Here's what happened: Employee alerts manager like he's trained to do. Manager asks customer what problem is. If manager isn't satisfied with customer's response, or situation deteriorates, manager bans customer from property or establishment. If customer then takes it a step further, and actually does assault somebody, then they call the police. Only the LSU guy ran from the police... he's a potential Olympic track star; he probably figured he could outrun them.

KN, give the ThugU comparisons a rest... you know that's silly. Miami police don't get called for sandwich throwing; and would laugh in your face if you tried it. They obviously, unlike Gainesville police, have much more serious matters to attend to. Miami players are already expected to exhibit behavior like that, and get passes on stuff other ones may not. ThugU legal troubles usually involve hurling lead, not lunch meat. It looks like it follows them around, too; as it now appears Sean Taylor was killed partly as a robbery, but also as a vendetta from his days at ThugU.

I guarantee you there are probably hundreds of incidents like this at every school in the nation that never get reported. If it did, we'd have a new thread for a new school every day. Our kids come from the same neighborhoods and backgrounds as everybody else's; and Meyer is hardly lax on discipline. I'm sure nobody ever even thinks to actually call the authorities over it. In this case, somebody did.

It is true that it is always sensationalized when there are football players concerned. We have all seen this. A very small incident will be blown way out of proportion just to start a big media deal. Ridiculous, but people don't seem to have enough to talk about, do they?

[gatorunvrsty]

It is true that it is always sensationalized when there are football players concerned. We have all seen this. A very small incident will be blown way out of proportion just to start a big media deal. Ridiculous, but people don't seem to have enough to talk about, do they?

Well, it was either this or another Tebow thread.:ohmy: I was pretty sure that, even though there isn't a lot to talk about right now, this one was better than more Tebow; as I'd already started one of those earlier. It was actually just supposed to give everyone a laugh... I never realized anyone would take it seriously as a real criminal matter. It's that laughable. But, it does give a pretty good idea of who's got a problem with Florida... you'd have to be really jealous, or really still in a great deal of pain from a beating on the field, to make more out of this than it really is. If I'd read this first thing this morning about another school, I'd still be trying to clean all the sweet tea out of my keyboard.

[Tator]

Why am I not surprised to see Carter's name thrown in there? What is he doing, touring the SEC's police departments? First Baton Rouge, then Gainsville, next stop - Athens! Carter is a thug and I'm embarrassed that his name is even associated with LSU.

[gatorunvrsty]

Why am I not surprised to see Carter's name thrown in there? What is he doing, touring the SEC's police departments? First Baton Rouge, then Gainsville, next stop - Athens! Carter is a thug and I'm embarrassed that his name is even associated with LSU.

He's training for the Olympics with our track coach. I can't say for certain, because I don't know what our training regimen looks like; but, I'm pretty sure it doesn't include "Outrun automobiles with lights on top of them.".:laugh:

[Bulldog Bry]

Why am I not surprised to see Carter's name thrown in there? What is he doing, touring the SEC's police departments? First Baton Rouge, then Gainsville, next stop - Athens! Carter is a thug and I'm embarrassed that his name is even associated with LSU.

Is his scooter license up to date?

[AUChamps]

Jimmy John's is the best.

[gatorunvrsty]

Jimmy John's is the best.

Just don't ask if chips come with the sandwich.:ph34r:

[AUChamps]

Just don't ask if chips come with the sandwich.:ph34r:
And see, the players were morons for starting sh*t at Jimmy John's. Hands down they are the best sandwich shop to go to in a college town. Cheap, big sandwiches, and filling. Oh yeah and you can get day old bread there for cheaper then anywhere else.