Three current and former South Carolina football players are reportedly in hot water, as they have been arrested in conjunction with a scuffle that took place on Saturday in Columbia. Jalen Dread, Deebo Samuel and Skai Moore were arrested and accused of assaulting a 24-year-old Marine veteran and Teddy Kulmala of The State brings further detail.
"The subjects then became agitated, refuting the accusation," the incident report states. "After a few seconds, the incident escalated to the subjects physically assaulting him."
The victim was hit several times in the face and had visible swelling around his left eye, police said. Bar staff pulled the men off the victim and escorted them from the bar, which is located at 812 Harden St. in the commercial district adjacent to the University of South Carolina campus.
"The subjects were identified by the fact that they were each USC football players," police wrote in their report. Bar staff told officers the incident was captured on video, which police were still working to obtain Tuesday. None of the football players were on the scene when officers arrived.
This is a big-time situation on the field as well, with Samuel serving as the team's leading returning wide receiver and Moore operating as its best defensive player when healthy. Beyond that, though, there are brutal optics at work here and it will be interesting as to how the next steps play out with regard to this case. Stay tuned.