[SimEon97]

UF football player accused of battery, false imprisonment

Dave Curtis | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 20, 2006, 1:45 PM EDT

GAINESVILLE -- Florida cornerback Avery Atkins has been suspended indefinitely from the Gators football team.

In a statement released through UF sports information director Steve McClain, Coach Urban Meyer said Atkins, a sophomore-to-be from Mainland who is a projected starter, is restricted from joining his teammates as they continue preparations for the fall.

"Avery has some issues to deal with before he can participate in any of our team activities," Meyer said.

Atkins could not be reached for comment about the Meyer's decision.

The announcement comes three days after Atkins was accused of repeatedly punching the mother of his child and keeping her trapped in his car for 20 minutes, a Daytona Beach Police incident report said.

Atkins, 19, is accused of felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor domestic battery of Benarah Sanford, the report said. Sanford is the mother of Atkins' lone child.

In a statement to police over the weekend, Atkins said he didn't force Sanford to stay in the car and that any battery against Sanford, 19, came when he was defending himself from her.

Al Tolley, public information officer with Daytona Beach Police, said Tuesday morning that no arrests have been made in the case, which remains open. "This is not a clear-cut domestic-violence case," he said. "There's been a recommendation that there is a continued investigation, and [police will] sit down with both people again."

News of the accusations adds to a tumultuous spring and early summer for Atkins. In mid-April, Atkins missed the final week of spring practice and the Orange and Blue Game to address what coaches deemed a "personal issue."

On April 17, a sworn complaint was filed with Daytona Beach Police accusing Atkins of aggravated battery in a March 11 incident. The complaint doesn't list any particulars and that case is closed.

Three weeks ago, at the Southeastern Conference annual meetings, UF Coach Urban Meyer said Atkins had rejoined the team but still needed to regain favor. "He's doing much better," Meyer said then. "All it is is making up some things."

Atkins' most recent troubles came Saturday afternoon, when an altercation between him and Sanford left her with swelling and small lacerations to her face and upper arm. They were arguing over another woman, Atkins told police.

Sanford told police the injuries were sustained when Atkins attacked her; Atkins argued he was defending himself from Sanford's punches.

Reached at her home Tuesday, Sanford declined to comment about the matter.

Staffer Erin Ailworth contributed to this report. Dave Curtis can be reached at dcurtis@orlandosentinel.com.

[SimEon97]

Along with child abuse and animal cruelty, hitting a woman is the biggest piece of **** thing to do.

[imported_DarthGator]

No Arrests, Warrants In Ongoing Atkins Case


University of Florida sophomore cornerback Avery Atkins has been accused of false imprisonment and misdemeanor domestic battery according to a police report that has been issued by the Daytona Beach Police Department. The alleged incident occurred Saturday in Daytona Beach and it involved Atkins and Benarah Sanford, who is the mother of his child.

Sanford claimed in a police report that Atkins held her in his car against her will for a period of time and that he struck her several times. Atkins' version of the story is that when he received a text message on his cell phone from another woman that Sanford got angry and attacked him. He claims that he was simply defending himself from her.
No charges have been filed in the case although both Atkins and Sanford have been requested to have a sit down meeting with officers to help determine should any charges be filed. The status of the investigation at this point is open.

According to all sources contacted in Volusia County, Atkins has been completely cooperative throughout this incident.

A call to the Sheriff's Office in Volusia County confirmed that no arrest warrants have been issued.

The Volusia County State Attorney's office will receive a report of the alleged incident within 7-10 days after the Daytona Beach Police Department determines if charges should be filed. The State Attorney's office will have the option of investigating this incident further or simply filing the report in the event that there are future incidents involving either or both parties.

Atkins is presently suspended from the University of Florida football team because he was charged but never arrested on aggravated battery charges stemming from a fight with another male in Daytona Beach on March 11. After further investigation by the Daytona Beach Police Department and the State Attorney, all charges were dismissed against Atkins (Case number 0632078CFAS) on April 17 according to the Volusia County Clerk of Court.

The Volusia County Clerk of Court also indicates that there are misdemeanor charges against Atkins for a failure to show in court for a valid ID charge back in 2003.

Atkins has been living in Gainesville and working full time since the spring semester ended. From all reports, he has been making every effort to regain his status with the Florida football team.

Gator Country is continuing to investigate and hopes to have a more detailed update later in the day after we have a chance

[/b]

[imported_DarthGator]

I have heard that this is nothing but a bunch of hot air...but we will see what happens and if it comes out that he did do these things.......he will be gone from the team


we shall see what happens

[imported_DarthGator]

GatorCountry.com Managing Editor
Date: Jun 29, 2006

Avery Atkins' career as a Florida Gator has come to an end as of Thursday afternoon. The rising sophomore cornerback from Daytona Beach Mainland, who was suspended indefinitely by Coach Urban Meyer after he was involved in a domestic violence incident that occurred on June 17, was given his release by Coach Urban Meyer.

In a one sentence statement to the University of Florida Sports Information Department, Meyer stated: "After a complete evaluation, we have granted Avery Atkins his release from the University of Florida football program."
Atkins came to Florida from Mainland, where he was a four-start (by Scout.com) recruit and one of the real gems of Meyer's first recruiting class at Florida in February of 2005. He spent most of the 2005 season as a key reserve at corner and playing special teams. He earned a start at cornerback in Florida's 34-7 regular-season ending victory over Florida State, a game in which he recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.

He was expected to start in 2006 but troubles began surfacing during spring football practice. He had two excellent weeks of practice but then was noticeably absent. It was reported that he was taking care of some personal business back home in Daytona Beach but that his status was fine with the team.

The personal business turned out to be the birth of the child he has with Benarah Sanford, the woman who has alleged in a charging affidavit to the Daytona Beach Police Department that Atkins struck her in the face in excess of 13 times in that June 17 incident. In what became a daily saga of where's Avery, Atkins never returned to spring football practice even though it was reported on more than one occasion that he would be back within a day or so.

After missing the Orange and Blue Game, Meyer announced that Atkins had to do some work to get back in the good graces of the team. Early indications where that Atkins was back in Gainesville, working full time and planning to enroll in Summer B at the University of Florida. However, reports began surfacing that Atkins was under intense pressure from Sanford to leave the University of Florida. Initially, it was thought that Atkins was asking for a release to go to Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach where he could be close to Sanford and the baby, but then came reports that he wanted to transfer to Florida State.

All these problems came to a head on June 17 when Atkins was involved in the incident with Sanford. No arrests were made although a report was taken by the Daytona Beach Police Department. The Daytona Beach Police Department chose to continue the investigation and was hoping to have a face-to-face meeting with Atkins and Sanford at their Daytona Beach headquarters, a meeting that hasn't yet taken place.

According to DBPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Al Tolley, the investigation into the incident continues. In an email to Gator Country Thursday morning, Tolley said there is nothing new to report.

In the days after the incident, Atkins told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that he wanted to remain a Florida Gator while in an interview the same day with the Orlando Sentinel he said that he wanted to transfer to Florida State, where Sanford was registered as a student during the recent spring semester. Atkins charged that Meyer was holding him on the team against his will. Meyer, however, said that Atkins family wanted him to remain at the University of Florida. He further stated that he would not release Atkins until he had received all the facts from this most recent incident.

For the past 10 days, there has been no indication what would be the final outcome but Thursday, Thursday, without indicating what he has discovered, Meyer gave Atkins his release from the Florida program. It is not clear at this time whether the release is unconditional and will allow Atkins to transfer to the school of his choice, or if there are conditions, i.e.; he could transfer to all schools except perhaps

[/b]

have a nice day

[mlynch69]

Looks like he went to the wrong Florida school.

[SimEon97]

Spare yourself the embarassment. As much as you want to believe it, UF isn't some hard nosed, tough on the 'bad kids' school and they never have been. Same goes for the other two Florida schools.

[imported_DarthGator]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SimEon97 @ Jun 30th ) [snapback]1604346[/snapback]</div>

Spare yourself the embarassment. As much as you want to believe it, UF isn't some hard nosed, tough on the 'bad kids' school and they never have been. Same goes for the other two Florida schools.
[/b]

The difference is Meyer booted him before the state attorney’s office said anything.

Whether the family that said they wanted him to stay backed off or UF’s investigation into the string of unfortunate events that atkins had been involved in showed that he was going to be trouble….it doesn’t matter to me


Meyer kicked (arguably) our most talented CB off the team.


Florida is a team, and not a group of individuals.

[SimEon97]

Spin control, anyone? He asked for his release before this ever happened and was denied. And finally after he beats the crap out of his girlfriend he receives his release. Nice.

[The Archduke]

Every major university caters to their top athletes. The only difference in this case was that Atkins wanted his release...no need to keep an abusive POS around if he doesn't want to be there.

It's the holier-than-thou attitude that collegiate fans have gotten about their respective programs that has really turned me off of college sports as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I follow UGA, but that's the extent of it. I get sick and tired of the attitudes, and in the southeast (and especially in Florida) it's just irritating. UF has kept pieces of crap on their team through the years(Fred Taylor?). FSU also has(Peter Warrick?). So has Miami(Warren Sapp?). Georgia has done it as well (Odell Thurman?). These are just the higher profile athletes.