ECU running back faces charges, possible investigation

Jonathan Williams' future with the ECU football team is uncertain.

A Pitt County court report showed that Williams, the Pirates' leading rusher, was arrested on Oct. 5 with a misdemeanor charge of resisting a public officer, and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 5.

WITN is also reporting that Williams is being investigated for an incident that occurred this past weekend.

Williams was absent from practice Tuesday afternoon and ECU coach Skip Holtz doesn't know if he will return to practice this week, if at all. Holtz did not say anything about Williams' situation at practice today.

"Our basic expectation for every member of our program has always been that they must earn the right to represent East Carolina University on the football field every week and that they will be held accountable for their actions on and off the field," Holtz said in a statement released by the athletic department Tuesday afternoon. "Any player charged with a crime will not represent ECU in any manner until cleared to do so by university and athletic department administrators. We always work closely with those entities to ensure that student-athletes are disciplined in a fair and consistent manner within the expectations for all ECU students as well as the expectations for all student-athletes."

According to the arrest warrant posted on witn.com, Williams "unlawfully and willfully did resist, delay and obstruct Officer M. McCoy...by refusing to follow command when asked to have a seat and not to move. At the time, the officer was discharging and attempting to discharge a duty of his office, investigating a domestic call."

Williams, 20, was released on a $1,000 bond.

"We have just been made aware of the situation and we are certainly going to gather facts from an internal standpoint and let the judicial system take its course," Holtz said in the same statement released today. "Any charge against an ECU football player is something that we take very seriously, but since this is a legal manner, any further comment on our part would be inappropriate at this point."

The former J.H. Rose star leads ECU in rushing yards (380) and touchdowns (5), and was also arrested for driving while intoxicated and underage consumption of alcohol last April. His court date for those charges is scheduled for Jan. 16, 2009.

The sophomore has played in two football games since his Oct. 5 arrest, starting and leading ECU in rushing on Oct. 11 at Virginia and leading the Pirates in rushing Oct. 18 against Memphis.

The suspension is the football program's second in the month of October.

Jamar Bryant, who was the Pirates' second leading receiver at the time, was suspended indefinitely on Oct. 8 for violation of team rules.

Bryant is not expected to return to the team this season according to Holtz, though he was at the Pirates' practice Tuesday afternoon in full pads.

This writer can be contacted at sports@theeastcarolinian.com.