Antonio Morrison is officially cleared.
State Attorney William Cervone issued a statement Tuesday announcing the state would drop two charges against the 19-year-old UF linebacker, who was arrested at about 3 a.m. Sunday after barking at a police dog.
Because the dog was sitting in the back of the police car on standby, Cervone wrote, it was not engaged in a police activity.
“The charge of interfering with a police animal requires malice, and none exists,” he wrote. “It also requires that the animal be engaged in some official duty.”
Based on a video from the patrol car dashboard, Cervone wrote, Morrison did not resist arrest but rather questioned the officers’ actions.
Morrison was not legally at fault, Cervone wrote, and as far as issues of Morrison’s and the officers’ conduct, he said he will defer to Coach Will Muschamp and Sheriff Sadie Darnell.
“I would expect that Morrison has learned that being out at that hour of the night under those circumstances is setting himself up for a situation where he could risk and lose a great deal,” Cervone wrote.
Morrison will be suspended for at least two games at the beginning of the upcoming season, Coach Will Muschamp announced via Twitter on Sunday. Muschamp has not commented about whether he will change his decision because the charges were dropped.
The deferred prosecution agreement for Morrison’s June 16 arrest will remain the same, according to the state attorney’s statement.
Linebacker Antonio Morrison (12) squats at the line of scrimmage during Florida’s 17-9 loss to Georgia on Oct. 27 at Everbank Field in Jacksonville.
