Antonio Morrison, a University of Florida linebacker who was
arrested last month after police said he punched a bouncer, is in
trouble again. This time deputies say he was interfering with a police
investigation by harassing a police dog at a crime scene.
Morrison, a 19-year-old
sophomore, was arrested early Sunday morning after Alachua County
Sheriff’s deputies said that he was a bystander at an incident near a
bar that has been the scene of dozens of law enforcement calls in recent
months.
Reaction was swift from Gator team officials.
“I’m
extremely disappointed in Antonio Morrison’s decision making," Coach
Will Muschamp said on the UF Twitter account Sunday. "He has been
suspended from the team and will miss at least two games to begin the
season.”
UF opens against Toledo on Aug. 31 before a road game at Miami the following week.
According
to the report, at about 2:30 a.m., a deputy responded to a call about a
suspicious incident and disturbance at the Scottish Inns Motel at 4341
SW 13th St.
The motel is
next to the All Star Sports Bar on Southwest 13th Street, a bar and
grill that can stay open until 4 a.m. as long as it stops serving
alcohol at 2 a.m.
Deputies
have responded to more than 200 calls to that scene since August 2012
mainly because of trouble among the large crowds that congregate in the
parking lots, and the sheriff’s office routinely assigned between eight
and 11 deputies to patrol the area.
The
deputy was talking to several men in a car when several young men,
including Morrison, walked past the patrol vehicle. Morrison then walked
over to the patrol car and started making barking noises through the
open car window at the K9 Bear, which started barking back at him.
The
deputy approached Morrison and told him to stand at the front of the
patrol car. The deputy tried to handcuff Morrison, but he resisted. Two
other deputies arrived and helped handcuff Morrison, who had to be told
several times to stop resisting, the report states.
Morrison
told deputies that he had made a “woof-woof” sound at the K9 officer
because the dog barked at him. The deputy explained that by doing this,
Morrison was distracting the police dog from its job.
Morrison
was arrested on misdemeanor charges of interfering with a police animal
and resisting arrest without violence. He was released from the Alachua
County jail Sunday afternoon, jail records show.
This
is the second incident involving law enforcement within six weeks for
Morrison. He was arrested by Gainesville Police after an incident June
16 outside the Kava Bar & Hookah Lounge at 1007 W University Ave.
after police said he got into an argument with a bouncer who refused to
waive the cover charge for Morrison. The report said Morrison told the
bouncer, “Don’t you know who I am? I’m a football player. I’m Antonio!’’
Morrison then hit the bouncer with his fist on top of the head.
He was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of battery early the next morning by GPD.
Morrison
was given deferred prosecution following the June 16 incident. As part
of the deal worked out with the State Attorney’s Office, Morrison agreed
to pay $100 in fines, perform community service hours, attend a drug
and alcohol program and anger management classes and take part in two
eight-hour ride-alongs with UF police.
