Florida Gators freshman arrested on first-degree felony charges

Florida Gators redshirt freshman cornerback JC Jackson was arrested in connection with an armed robbery committed on Saturday at Canopy Apartments in Gainesville. Jackson and two other men allegedly held the residents of the home at gunpoint before taking a XBOX One, marijuana and cash.

Jackson was booked into Alachua County Jail and is being held on $150,000 bond, facing charges of first-degree felony robbery with a firearm.

According to a police report, Jackson called one of the residents of the apartment, speaking to him about “hanging out and smoking cannabis.” Jackson entered the home without knocking, looked inside and quickly shut the door, according to the two victims.

Jackson then reportedly said that he had a phone call and left the residents before the robbery took place. Jackson never re-entered the apartment but he was identified by the victims via a photo lineup.

“We are aware of the news involving J.C. Jackson, and he is currently dealing with a serious issue,” coach Jim McElwain said in a press release. “We don’t condone any of his actions, and it is not something that reflects on the expectations we have in the program. It is being handled accordingly due to the severity of his actions.”

Jackson missed his freshman season after a shoulder injury in Florida’s first game but had been working with the first team defense this spring and was on track to earn a starting job at cornerback.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC

5 COMMENTS

  1. _(*%#&=*&^…moron, and I’m trying to be nice. Let’s hope everyone is wrong here and I have awoken in a bad dream. Guns? Armed robbery? How can a person with 1 iota of intelligence think this would turn out well? I’m angered staring at the flashing cursor wanting to say more…

  2. Guys lets just wait and see what comes of this. Based on this article and the articles being circulated online just states that he made a call, showed up without knocking, said he had a phone call and left never to return.

    That being said “Leave the Weed Alone!”

    • A lot of the story is still unknown so I agree that it’s best to wait and see what else comes out.

    • Based on the likely circumstances. The only way Jackson remains in school, on the team and out of prison is if this is a case of mistaken identity. Something like, Jackson, the football player, was not involved at all. Jackson, the football player, was actually in the UF library studying for a quantum physics exam to be given the next day. By the way, this unknown guy mistakenly identified as J.C. Jackson appears to be what police call a ‘set-up’ man for an armed home invasion robbery.