By: Nick Marcinko -- July 28, 2025 In early May, Florida Gators’ cornerback Dijon Johnson was arrested on multiple charges in his hometown of Tampa, Florida, according to Hillsborough Country Sherrif’s office. Tampa police department arrested Johnson at 11:20 p.m. eastern on May 2nd with four charges including resisting officer without violence (misdemeanor), possession of cannabis less than 20 grams (misdemeanor), possession of controlled substance (third degree felony), and possession of firearm during commission of felony (second degree felony). Johnson’s attorney, Timothy Taylor, tells Gator Country that all four charges have been dropped. “No charges will be filed against Dijon Johnson for a traffic stop on May 2, 2025. The State Attorney’s Office filed paperwork confirming that they will take no further action regarding this incident. We have worked closely with prosecutors on this for the past few months and are pleased with their diligence and professionalism. Dijon and his family are happy to have this matter behind them. Dijon is focused on his academic and football commitments and is excited for the start of the football season,” Taylor wrote in his statement.
Even though it appears that he was stopped for DWB, I hope he really does refocus his attention to “academics and football commitments” and keeps away from opportunities and influences that can lead to worse outcomes for him.
I don't know all the specifics about how these charges got dropped, but I honestly hope he didn't get preferential treatment because he is a D1 athlete. There need to be consequences for bad behavior and law breaking and the concept of "justice for thee, but not for me" has become too much of the norm of late. For the Gator football team, this is great news, but I hope he got the same outcome as just a normal Joe would have gotten under the same circumstances.
Arresting officer’s written report says the car stopped beyond the stop bar, but says it stopped. Hell, cops do the rolling stop as much as the rest of us. And we all roll past the stop bar when one is present if the clear sight triangle isn’t clear. That sounds like classic driving while black to me. Without the dubious reason for the lights and siren there is no interaction or charges. And I really hope, as others have said, that this is a wake up call for Johnson. What’s dumb about either part of the post…just wondering?
We get a ticket from a camera here if you dont stop before the line. Sure, we all do it til we know a camera is there, $175. Its stupid but its still a law. Playing that victem crap if you did go past the line is bs. Many times like yesterday, the bike path was there and a kid had to go behind me because i stopped at the sign instead of the line.
I get it, but daaaang. If every stop sign/bar has a camera where you live then that municipality must be rolling in the dough. I understand how stop bars and crosswalks are supposed to work; I have designed hundreds, probably thousands, as a site civil engineer. I also know how often the theory doesn’t work vs human nature and driving habits; and Johnson’s instance is the first I have heard of a traffic stop for it here in the free state of Florida. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a regular occurrence, just that I haven’t heard of it and I watch LEOs make rolling stops and cross stop bars regularly (I notice such things as a designer of traffic control signage and markings). I strongly suspect that something besides the stop bar issue led to the stop by Po Po. Of course, they were fully authorized to make the stop. I just suspect that this is a case where the LEO’s discretion to stop or not was influenced by the amount of tint… and not meaning on the windows. Unfortunately, kids like Johnson have to behave better than most folks if they don’t want to draw attention to themselves. It’s also unfortunate that often their behavior as young self-entitled athletes is diametrically opposed to that seeming necessity. I wish that their coaches could be more successful in getting them to understand this. And I bet that their mom/dad/uncle/auntie/guardian had “the talk” with them years ago but it just doesn’t always register.
As a melanin challenged dumbass teenager, I was pulled over often for stupid things such as stopping past the bar or the infamous license plate light (which always seemed to be working fine when you got home to check it). I was routinely stopped and harassed while out and about doing dumb teen things with dumb teen friends. As I got older, stopped dressing like a hoodlum, and stopped doing so many dumbass things, my interactions with the cops pretty much stopped all together. I may get stopped for a real offense, like speeding, on occasion, but the routine harassment mostly stopped when I stopped acting like a stupid teenager. Moral to the story; when I stopped doing dumb shit, I stopped having dumb encounters with the police. Maybe that only works for us melanin challenged folks, but I have a few well to do friends without the same complexion issues that had similar problems when they were dumbass kids, and like me, stopped having problems when they grew up and stopped dressing and acting like a dumbass. Carrying around drugs and guns while using drugs and committing traffic violations is dumb no matter what color you are, and cops tend to mess with people who look suspect and do dumb shit no matter what color you are.
I don't think there is a specific uniform. Definitely whatever dumb shit I was wearing while driving around with guns and drugs as a teenager. Me personally, I was probably wearing JNCO's, a polo shirt 3 sizes too big or a f* tha police t shirt, a big gold chain, sunglasses whether the sun was out or not, and a hat with a pot leaf or two stick people forking. You can wear and do things that draw attention to yourself. You can wear and do things that don't. It's not a really hard concept to grasp and it's not always based on your skin tone. White folks can wear and do just as much dumb shit as any other race and they get harassed for it just the same. That's not a justification, it just is what it is. When I stopped doing dumb shit, less dumb shit happened to me.
