Arrest charges were dropped on Tuesday against a Florida linebacker who was briefly arrested last weekend for barking at a police dog after the Alachua County Sheriff said Florida linebacker Antonio Morrison should not have been arrested.
“Our deputies are caught in a lot of threatening situations and are having to make rational, very well-thought-out decisions in the context of chaos, and sometimes they don’t think them all the way through,” Sheriff Sadie Darnell told The Gainesville Sun.
In a video that was released of the arrest, a voice that is presumably Morrison’s is heard telling the officer, “Officer, please let me go. I’m not looking for any trouble. I just said, ‘Woof, woof.’ “
The Orlando Sentinel reported that William Cervone, the state attorney for Florida’s Eighth Judicial District, dropped the charges after reviewing the evidence.
“Having reviewed the law and the evidence, specifically including the video what occurred, I have today filed a dismissal of all charges against Antonio Morrison related to his arrest on July 21 for interfering with a police dog and resisting an officer,” Cervone said in a statement released by his office Tuesday. “This dismissal is based on the lack of evidence to warrant much less legally sustain those charges and the complete inappropriateness of pursuing court action against Morrison, or anyone else, under the circumstances involved.”
The Sheriff did acknowledge the officer had to make a “split second” decision. Morrison was suspended for two games due to his arrest, and it is unknown whether that suspension will now be revoked. The sophomore linebacker is one of Florida’s best defensive players.
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