Antonio Morrison arrested for barking

Antonio Morrison was arrested late last night and charged with harassing/interfering with a police animal.

Morrison was out at a club when police were called due to an unrelated incident. Morrison made barking noises at the police dog that was with an officer, causing the dog to start barking as well. The officer became annoyed with the situation and confronted Morrison. Morrison was additionally charged with resisting arrest without violence.

This is the second time that Morrison has been arrested this offseason. Morrison was previously arrested for an incident at a hookah lounge, where he assaulted the bouncer. Morrison received deferred prosecution for that incident, requiring him to pay $100 to the state for court costs, make a $150 donation to CDS Family & Behavioral Services, complete 12 hours of community service, complete a Florida drug and alcohol education program, attend an anger management program, and participate in two hour ride-alongs with UF police. Woof, that’s harsh.

Gatorcountry.com is still waiting to receive the arrest record and will have more on this developing story soon.

UPDATE 10:57 a.m.:

Antonio Morrison was arrested late last night and charged with harassing/interfering with a police animal.

The arrest report stated that police were called to the Scottish Inns Motel in Gainesville about a “suspicious incident and disturbance” unrelated to Morrison. The officer responded in a marked car with his police lights on. The officer parked next to a car that matched the description of the car he was called to investigate.

While the officer was dealing with that situation, Morrison and a group of males were walking by on the sidewalk. Morrison allegedly walked over to the marked police car and made barking noises into the window of the car at the police K9 (Bear).

The report states, “K9 Bear immediately began barking at Antonio, diverting his attention away from my investigation and towards him (Morrison).”

The officer walked around to the front of the car and stopped the group. He made contact with Morrison and told him to stand in front of the police car. Morrison allegedly resisted the officer as he tried to detain Morrison in handcuffs. Two additional officers arrived on the scene and helped detain Morrison.

The report goes on to say that Morrison “spontaneously stated several times that he made a ‘woof-woof’ sound at the dog because the dog barked at him first.”

Morrison was officially charged and booked with interference with a police canine and resisting arrest, which is a second-degree misdemeanor in the state of Florida. The arrest report stated that Morrison was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the arrest.

This is the second time Morrison has been arrested in six weeks. Morrison was previously arrested for simple battery and agreed to deferred prosecution where the charges would be dropped if Morrison fulfilled the criteria laid out for him in court. Morrison was to pay $100 in court fees, make a $150 donation to CDS Family &Behavioral Services, complete 12 hours of community service, complete a Florida drug and alcohol abuse education program, attend an anger management program and participate in a two hour ride-along with police.

Will Muschamp and the University of Florida have yet to release a statement.

UPDATE 12:04 p.m.:

Will Muschamp released a statement through the football team’s twitter saying, “I’m extremely disappointed in Antonio Morrison’s decision making. He has been suspended from the team and will miss at least two games to begin the season.”

 

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