GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -Safety Tony Joiner is the eighth Florida player in the last nine months to get in legal trouble, a growing concern for the defending national champions.
Joiner, a senior captain and defensive leader, was arrested early Tuesday and charged with felony burglary, police said.
Joiner, who ranks fifth on the team with 20 tackles, was arrested around 5 a.m. outside the fenced impound lot of a local towing company, Gainesville police said.
But the owner of the property leased by the towing company, Stan Forron, said Tuesday afternoon that the whole thing is “a big misunderstanding.”
Joiner was accused of pushing a heavy electric gate open to enter the lot in an attempt to retrieve his girlfriend’s car, which was being held in lieu of a $76 towing bill, a police report said.
Joiner was taken to the Alachua County Jail and later released on his own recognizance.
Forron said Joiner had made arrangements to pay the towing bill and pick up the car. But when Joiner arrived, no one was around to help him.
“I don’t know if he was late or early or what,” said Forron, who plans to urge the state attorney’s office to drop the charges. “I don’t understand why he was arrested. Is it a crime? Yes and no. It’s kind of my fault because I left the gate open.
“It’s like going to breakfast at Cracker Barrel and when you go to leave there’s no one there to take your money. How long are you going to wait?”
Forron acknowledged that he is a Gators fan, but he insisted that it had no bearing on his desire to see the charges dropped.
“I came forward because right is right and wrong is wrong,” Forron said. “I don’t think he should be in trouble.”
Joiner was not at practice Tuesday evening. Coach Urban Meyer stopped short of saying Joiner was suspended for Saturday’s game at top-ranked LSU.
“Until I find out everything, he won’t do anything,” Meyer said, adding that he was “disappointed” by the situation.
“I don’t know the whole story yet. I’m still getting information like a lot of people are,” Meyer said. “I’m always concerned about that kind of stuff. I think everybody in the country is concerned about that. I’m a concerned parent and I’m a concerned football coach.”
He also said it could be a distraction as the Gators try to regroup from their first loss in 11 months.
“Would it distract a family? Sure,” he said. “These guys are all family and any time someone has a situation it distracts a family.”
According to the police report, witnesses said Joiner opened the gate to the towing company, got into a car, drove out of the lot and was trying to close the gate when he was confronted by one of the witnesses. The witness said Joiner drove back into the lot and waited for police to arrive.
The arresting officer, Robert Concannon, wrote that Joiner was talking on a phone when he walked up. Concannon said he heard Joiner say, “I am probably about to go to jail ‘cuz I did push the gate open.”
Joiner told the officer he had intended to pay the towing bill, but got impatient, the report said.
The arrest happened two days after three players were questioned about a shooting outside a downtown nightclub. The players were not considered suspects, but their names were given to police as people who may have witnessed the shooting that happened several hours after the Gators lost 20-17 to Auburn.
“They weren’t even involved,” Meyer said. “I know college kids do stuff. I’d rather them not do stuff after games, but I’m not a police officer, either, so I can’t lock them down completely. Just lecture, teach. A lot of people are out at 2 a.m. I’d rather our guys not be out. My children, I don’t want them out at 2 a.m.
Joiner’s arrest is the latest in a long list since the Gators won their second national championship in January. Former Florida offensive lineman Ronnie Wilson, linebacker Dustin Doe and safety Jamar Hornsby were arrested in April.
Defensive backs Dorian Munroe, John Curtis and Jacques Rickerson were arrested in May. And running back Brandon James was arrested in June.
“We’ve got to do a better job,” Meyer said.
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