University of Arkansas football player Terrell Williams has been suspended indefinitely from the program after being arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, the university said.
Williams, a senior linebacker from Tulsa Union, was pulled over by Fayetteville police just before midnight Saturday on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A police report said a white Oldsmobile driven by Williams swerved in a lane and crossed the center line several times.
After being pulled over, Williams said he had been at a party at the Highway 62 Event Center and had glassy and bloodshot eyes, the report said. The police officer said he smelled alcohol on Williams’ breath.
Williams denied drinking but failed a field sobriety test, police said. Police said he refused to take a blood-alcohol test.
The police report said Williams was uncooperative and argumentative for nearly 45 minutes while officers attempted to read him his rights and book him into jail.The police report said Williams was so uncooperative he was handed over to sheriff deputies, who booked Williams shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
Williams was released on a $910 bond around 8 a.m. Sunday morning, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office website.
Head coach John L. Smith released this statement Sunday before noon: “I am very disappointed in the decisions made by Terrell Williams. He did not represent himself or the University of Arkansas in a manner we expect. …We have high expectations for the actions of everyone in our program on and off the field, and our student athletes will be held accountable.”
The Hogs defeated Tulsa in Fayetteville on Saturday, 19-15. Williams is listed in the booking report as 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, but on the University of Arkansas team website as 6-foot-3, 232 pounds. He had 7 tackles on Saturday and is the fourth leading tackler on the team, according to the university.
Williams is the second Arkansas defender to be arrested in the last month. Junior defensive end Chris Smith was arrested for failing to appear in court after receiving a speeding ticket in Farmington last spring.
Williams is one of the lone upperclassmen on a depleted Hogs linebacking core. Senior captains Alonzo Highsmith and Tenarius Wright are out for the season because of injury, leaving Williams as the only senior on a freshmen-dominated unit.
Smith has set a precedent in his short tenure with players accused of breaking the law. The first-year coach kicked five players off the team before the beginning of the 2012 season, but allowed offensive lineman Jason Peacock, who served a 10-day jail sentence on debit-card theft, to remain on the team.
Williams is a 21-year-old sports-management major.
He has a routine court date Monday and a Dec. 14 hearing in Fayetteville District Court. He faces charges of driving while intoxicated, driving left of center and violating the Arkansas implied consent law, according to the sheriff’s office website.
According to the University of Arkansas Police Department website, the state’s implied consent law, 5-65-202(a) and 5-65-309(a), stipulates: “Any person who operates a motor vehicle … shall be deemed to have given consent … to a chemical test .. of his or her blood, breath, or urine for the purpose of determining the alcohol or controlled substance content of his or her blood …”
