For the first time under Butch Jones’ tenure as head coach in Knoxville, Tennessee football players have been arrested.
According to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, linebacker AJ Johnson and defensive tackle Danny O’Brien were arrested early this morning, along with former Vol Dontavis Sapp.
Based on the details gathered to this point, Johnson was charged with resisting arrest, while Sapp was charged with resisting arrest and providing alcohol to minors. O’Brien, who is under 21 years old, was charged with underage consumption, according to reports. The details of the charges have not been confirmed with the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
From what we’ve been able to gather, police received noise complaints and were called to Dontavis Sapp’s apartment around 2 a.m. Sunday morning. Officers instructed Sapp to turn down the music, which he did. However, before officers left the premises, some sort of commotion caused them to return. The situation seems to have escalated from there.
Redshirt junior Allan Carson (@AllanCarson69) tweeted “UT Football stand up!!! This ain’t gone stop us… I swear it ain’t,” shortly after the details of the incident broke.
New Vol signee Charles Mosley was also up late commenting on the unfortunate events that took place.
Aj gone be good so everybody can quit worrying
— Charles Mosley (@BigCharless) February 9, 2014
Tennessee released a statement by Butch Jones earlier today.
“We are aware of the situation and are still in the preliminary stages of gathering all facts and information,” Jones said. “We have very high standards and expectations within our football program at the University of Tennessee, and appropriate action will be taken.”
Follow along in the forum thread, AJ, Sapp, and O’Brien involved in altercation. (Rumor/Speculation) where the details begin to emerge with photos and tweets as the arrests took place.