Police officers patrolling Baxter Street at 2:30 in the morning this past Sunday witnessed the car driven by Georgia football player Bill Norton cross the double-yellow line with all four tires into oncoming-traffic lanes before pulling him over in the Russell Hall parking lot.
At that time, field sobriety tests were performed and Norton subsequently was taken into custody. He also submitted to two chemical tests, which registered 0.105g/210L and 0.103.g/210L, according to the UGA Police report provided to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in response to an open records request.
After processing, Norton was booked into Athens-Clarke County at 4:25 a.m. on charges of DUI, failure to maintain lane and possession of alcohol under the age of 21. He was released an hour and a half later on $3,000 in bonds.
Norton told police he was “dropping off some friends from downtown.” Police said there were three other people in his 2017 GMC Yukon. Those individuals were not identified. The car was searched and no contraband was found, police said.
A secondary report that was filed said Georgia’s Director of Player Programs Bryant Gantt was supposed to retrieve Norton’s vehicle, but never came. Eventually it was towed away.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart said Monday he was “very disappointed” in Norton’s “unacceptable behavior” and that the 6-foot-6, 285-pound defensive end would be “punished accordingly.”
UGA student-athlete policy handbook states that DUIs result in "automatic suspension" and enrollment in the athletic association's drug and alcohol awareness program.
