As UF's football team prepares to play against Louisiana State University on Saturday, many worry that Tony Joiner may not play in the game.
UF coach Urban Meyer said Joiner, who was arrested and charged with burglary early Tuesday morning, will not play if the felony charges are not dropped or reduced.
According to a police report, Joiner was arrested for attempting to retrieve his girlfriend's car from Watson's Towing, where it was being held for ,76.
Meyer said Joiner also lost his status as a team captain, but he will not be replaced because there are not many seniors on the team.
However, the incident early Tuesday morning is affecting more than the UF football team. It has caused debate between Stan Forron, the property manager of the lot, and the Gainesville Police Department.
Forron has said he did not want to press charges against Joiner.
However, GPD spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg said Forron could have filled out a complaint withdrawal form any time during the incident if he did not want to press charges.
"If they didn't want us to press charges we should have been told. We can't read minds," Kameg said.
Forron said he would ask the State Attorney's Office to not press charges either.
Kameg said Forron can take care of the entire issue by going to the State Attorney, but did not know if Forron had been in touch with the State Attorney's Office.
The charges have already been filed, and law enforcement does not drop charges, Kameg said. GPD is no longer pursuing the case, and it is now up to the State Attorney's Office to continue with the charges, he said.
Forron said he arrived at Watson's at 3 or 3:30 a.m. After the car was towed, he made arrangements with Joiner to come pick up the car, and then left the shop.
The employee at the gate was in the break room when Joiner showed up to claim his car, which is when Joiner attempted to retrieve the car himself, Forron said.
Forron said the driver who called GPD to report Joiner is someone who is a "physically smaller, nervous guy."
"I definitely think my guy overreacted," Forron said. "But I would rather see my drivers err on the side of being overly cautious than not."
Forron blames the entire incident on a series of miscommunications and a combination of misunderstandings. The towing company has been paid, and he said that is what he cares about the most. He said it has been blown way out of proportion because of Joiner's football status.
"In my 20 years of business they have never arrested anyone," he said. "If he wasn't a football player this wouldn't be all over the media."
Kameg said GPD received two phone calls from Watson's towing, the first at 4:33 a.m. and the second at 4:37 a.m. GPD arrived on the scene at 4:38 a.m.
The driver who made the call - who identified himself as Travis on the calls to the department - said Joiner was "getting in his face" and that he had blocked Joiner into the lot. Yelling could be heard in the background of the tape as GPD officers arrived on scene.
Kameg said Joiner was polite to GPD officers and spoke with them for about 30 minutes before he was arrested.
Joiner never mentioned speaking with Forron or making previous arrangements to pick up the car, Kameg said.
Kameg said during that time Forron was not on the property.
"As law enforcement, we are getting tired of being blamed for other people's lack of action," Kameg said. "Their employees called us twice. They wanted us to come out there to handle the situation."
Forron has not been in touch with GPD at all since Tuesday, Kameg said. Any of the employees could have also filled out the withdrawal form, and the charges would have been dropped, he said.
Kameg said GPD does not want to be blamed for communication issues that happened within Watson's towing.
"Our story hasn't changed since the first day," he said. "The story at the tow company changes like the weather."
Alligator Staff Writer Jenna Marina contributed to this report.
