UGA wide receiver arrested on charges including child cruelty

ATHENS, Ga. — A University of Georgia football player was arrested on charges including cruelty to children early Friday morning.

Senior wide receiver Rodarius “Rara” Thomas was taken into custody by Athens-Clarke County police just after 1:30 a.m.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Officers say they were called to a domestic violence incident on Mill Creek Way. Details on that incident and what led to Thomas’ arrest have not been released.

Channel 2 Action News is working to learn more details. Get the latest updates on WSBTV.com and on Channel 2 Action News at Noon.

Thomas is currently being held in the Clarke County Jail on two counts of battery - family violence and one count of cruelty to children.

Steven Drummond, Executive Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications at UGA, shared a statement that said,

“This is a pending legal matter. We will have no further comment at this point.”

RELATED STORIES:

• 2 UGA football players arrested on reckless driving charges, bond out for $26
• UGA player was racing teammate when he was arrested, told him not to tell the group chat
• Kirby Smart says there have been fines, suspensions for UGA players arrested

Last January, Thomas was arrested and charged with false imprisonment and battery family violence. A few months later, his charges were dismissed.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Thomas was required to enter a pretrial diversion program for the battery charge.

Thomas’ attorney also confirmed that he was taking an anger management course and is completing 40 hours of community service and will pay court service fees.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

He isn’t the only UGA football player arrested in recent months. Several of his teammates have been arrested on charges related to their driving.

Channel 2 Sports Director Zach Klein was in the room at SEC Media Days in Dallas when Smart indirectly addressed the arrests and his disappointment.

“You want your kids, your players to make better decisions,” Smart said. “I always talk about processing outcomes in wins and losses. We try not to base things on outcomes. In this case, the outcomes are very disappointing.”

Smart didn’t go into specifics, but pointed out there have been fines, suspensions and dismissals in the past year for the program.

IN RELATED NEWS:

UGA player was racing teammate when he was arrested, told him not to tell the group chat

©2024 Cox Media Group