LEXINGTON, Ky. — A grand jury in Fayette County, Kentucky, has declined to indict six University of Kentucky football players on first-degree burglary charges.
The charges were brought last month following a police investigation of an incident last March at a private party.
Lexington Police arrested Reuben Adams, Robert McClain, Devito Tisdale, Joel Williams, Earnest Sanders IV and Andru Phillips on Aug. 19. Tisdale was also charged with first-degree wanton endangerment for allegedly pointing a gun at one of the victims.
All six second-year players pleaded not guilty on Aug. 20 and later waived their cases to a state grand jury, which dismissed the charges on Tuesday. The wanton endangerment charge against Tisdale was also dismissed.
Adams tweeted after the decision was announced that he was “glad the truth finally came out” and that he was excited to be back on the field.
The dismissals come a day after Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said he hoped for an update on their cases. Kentucky football spokeswoman Susan Lax confirmed Tuesday the players have been cleared to return to practice after being suspended from team activities while their cases were pending. The players had returned in June after being away 11 weeks while a student conduct hearing was held.
Stoops said after Tuesday’s practice that the players were allowed to resume activities last Monday to get back in shape but had not been not cleared to play. He wouldn’t say if any would play for Kentucky (4-0, 2-0) in Saturday night’s SEC showdown against No. 10 Florida (3-1, 1-1).
“We’re always going to try and do what’s right and what’s best, but we’re gonna go with the facts,” the coach added, thanking the grand jury for its diligence. “We stuck by our players because we believed in them and we believed at the end of this process that they’d be exonerated, and they were.”
A Lexington Police release stated that three individuals entered a private party uninvited at a residence on March 6 and were asked to leave. They became upset and threatened to return, the release added, and returned a short time later with additional individuals.
The individuals forced their way inside the residence and one suspect was observed pointing a firearm at one of the occupants, the release stated. Court documents state that the players had “a physical altercation with multiple occupants of the residence” that left many of the occupants injured.
The Lexington Herald-Leader first reported the grand jury’s decision.
