ATHENS – One Georgia football player appears to have over-celebrated the Bulldogs’ recent national championship.
William Mote, a sophomore from Hoover, Ala., and Georgia’s long snapper for punts, was arrested by Athens-Clarke County Police on Jan. 12, about 12 hours after the Bulldogs returned home from the College Football Playoff Championship game in Indianapolis. He was charged with criminal damage to property, a second-degree felony.
At 5:04 a.m. Jan. 12, a police officer responded to the call of a possible burglary in progress in downtown Athens. An alarm at the Blasingame, Burch, Garrard & Ashley law firm on College Avenue had activated.
Officer Mikal Jones arrived one minute later and found Mote still at the scene kicking the door. Mote immediately was detained. He told police he had been drinking at a bar up the street and became confused when looking for a friend’s residence at Uncommon Apartments. That complex is about a block and a half away.
Mote was booked into Athens-Clarke County Jail and released five hours later on a $1,300 bond.
Since then, Mote has met with the property owners, apologized and agreed to pay for the repairs. The felony charges were based on an initial assessment estimating the property damage to exceed $500. However, repairs were limited to the replacement of two broken window panes at a cost of less than $200.
