September 03, 2015
Five current members of the Rutgers University football team were arrested Thursday for their involvement in an assault and a series of home invasions, part of a Middlesex County investigation dating back to last spring.
The players arrested include star cornerback Nadir Barnwell, who is also the subject of an investigation of Rutgers head coach Kyle Flood regarding an effort to contact a professor of Barnwell's about his grades, potentially in violation of school policy, NJ.com reports. Despite the ongoing investigation, Flood will coach the Scarlet Knights in Saturday's season opener against Norfolk State.
The arrests Thursday stem from an April 25 assault committed by six individuals against at least four other people, including a Rutgers student. One of the victims, a 19-year-old male student, suffered a broken jaw during the incident, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.
In addition to Barnwell, the current Rutgers players charged in the attack are 20-year-old Andre Boggs, of Coatesville, 22-year-old Ruhann Peele, of Piscataway, 20-year-old Razohnn Gross, of Franklin Park, 22-year-old Delon Stephenson, of Sayreville. Stephenson's older brother Daryl, 23, a former Rutgers student, remains at large, according to police.
The six have been charged with aggravated assault, riot, and conspiracy to commit a riot.
Rutgers announced that all of the players have been suspended indefinitely.
The full investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and the New Brunswick Police Department, launched after a home invasion in late April, includes a total of nine defendants. Two additional home invasions, two of which were allegedly carried out by cornerback Andre Boggs.
Read the full release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office here.
