Questions Remain Unanswered After New Details Emerge From Stetson Bennett Arrest
Former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett was arrested on a public intoxication charge Jan. 29. The only known details of the incident on the day of the arrest were the location and the (odd) hour.
More information has emerged from the police incident report, which was obtained by the Athens Banner-Herald on Tuesday. It provides a better understanding of what went down, but only raises more questions than answers.
Stetson Bennett said he was trying to find a friend's house.
Bennett, who chose not to participate in the Senior Bowl and could (should?) have been in Mobile, Ala. that weekend, was instead in Dallas to train for the NFL Draft. That is where the arrest occurred.
Police responded to a suspicious person call at a town home at about 6:15 a.m. on Sunday. They said on the day of the arrest that they were responding to reports of a man that was banging on doors in the area.
Because of the "high profile arrest," a Dallas police sergeant reported to the scene.
Upon arrival, Bennett was observed "walking further back in the gated area to hide behind a brick wall by a random (apartment) in attempt to possibly avoid (the arresting officers) detection." Officers announced themselves multiple times and asked that the two-time national champion quarterback come out with his hands up.
Bennett complied to their request. He was then placed in handcuffs because he had tried to hide.
From there, after identifying himself, Bennett claimed that his friend lived at the location. However, he did not have a cellphone on his person to call his friend and could not provide an address.
Bennett was publicly intoxicated.
Police said that there was a strong smell of booze coming from "breath and/or body." They took him into custody because "if not arrested, (he) could have potentially become a victim of a crime."
After being arrested, Bennett entered a "sobering center."As a result, the charge was classified as diversion public intoxication.
Questions continue.
At the end of the day, the incident report says exactly what was assumed by many. It sounds like Bennett was smacked after a night out, in a city for which he was unfamiliar, and just wanted to crash on his homie's couch. He couldn't remember exactly which town home was his buddy's because he had been drinking and town homes typically look pretty similar, so he started going door to door.
There may be more to the situation than that, but it seems like that's the gist. Assuming that was the case, and going off of the incident report, there are so many questions left unanswered.
We will likely never get the full story, and Bennett has since moved on. He is expected to participate in the NFL Combine later this week.