Basketball player cited for marijuana
Sunday, August 15, 2010 at 11:55AM By Anna Douglas
One Winthrop basketball player was ticketed for possession of marijuana in an on-campus apartment on Saturday night.
Chad Dewitt, one of the team’s senior guards, was fined $570 and will appear in court on May 20.
Disciplinary action will be taken but the type of action has not yet been determined, said Winthrop’s Director of Athletics Tom Hickman.
“We’re still trying to learn more about the incident,” he said.
Hickman is talking with Campus Police and Residence Life to gather more information, he said.
Campus Police responded to a request from an on-call RA to investigate suspected marijuana use on the second floor of the Courtyard at about 12:45 a.m.
Police knocked on the door but no one came. The RA unlocked the door due to suspicion of illegal activity taking place in the room, according to a police report.
Police waited in the hallway while the RA looked for marijuana, police said.
A small amount was found in Dewitt’s room. Residence Life staff told police that a candle had been lit in the room to mask the smell of marijuana, the police report said.
While police were at the apartment, Dewitt’s roommate returned. He said he did not know there was drug use in the apartment, despite the odor of marijuana, police said.
He also told police he did not know where Dewitt was.
While on the second floor, the RA received another call in reference to marijuana use on the first floor. The RA also had reason to believe Dewitt was in that room, according to the police report.
She and the police officer knocked on the door of the first floor apartment but no one answered. They could hear shuffling inside the apartment and the RA unlocked the door, police said.
When two RA’s entered the room one male student inside pushed Residence Life staff, attempting to leave, according to the report.
He was told to return to the room, police said.
One of the RA’s went outside to make sure no one attempted to leave through a window.
All four residents were told to come to the apartment’s common area and the police officer asked if anyone had been smoking marijuana in the room.
They all denied.
The officer also asked if they knew where Dewitt was and they said they did not know.
The RA outside saw Dewitt throw a bag of marijuana out the window of the first floor apartment. After investigating, police found Dewitt in the first-floor room.
Police continued to question the four roommates about the use of marijuana in the room but they denied it.
One male student in particular was “extremely uncooperative” and “continuously questioned Residence Life staff on their ability to key into a room,” police said.
All of the roommates have been referred to the university judiciary system because they were intentionally deceptive while talking to police, according to the police report.
