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Three Griz football players arrested on felony burglary charges, suspended

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IAA Fan:
Five people, including three University of Montana football players, were arrested on felony burglary charges following an incident that occurred early Sunday morning.

Kendrick Van Ackeren, Joseph Counts and John Schmaing, as well as Courtney Reep and Maclain Tomlinson, were booked into the Missoula County jail early Sunday. Missoula Police Sgt. Collin Rose said an investigation into the alleged burglary incident is ongoing. A 9-1-1 call about the incident, which took place at a residence on the 200 block of Pattee Canyon Drive, came in at 2:51 a.m. Sunday. Rose said at this point, police have no evidence of violence or injuries from the incident.

Each of the five individuals was held on $50,000 bail. Reep and Counts were released after posting bail, while Van Ackeren posted bail Sunday night.

Counts, a redshirt junior running back, hasn't played since Sept. 26 because of an injury. On Aug. 29, he scored the winning touchdown for the Griz against North Dakota State with two seconds to go. He had missed all of last season with a foot injury.

Both Schmaing, a senior starting offensive tackle, and senior starting outside linebacker Van Ackeren played in Saturday's 35-16 loss in Oregon against Portland State. Van Ackeren leads the Griz with 96 tackles this season.

UM Athletic Director Kent Haslam said as per the student-athlete code of conduct, all three of the football players have been suspended indefinitely from all team activities. He said the suspension would be reevaluated only if the circumstances of the charges change.

"A felony is a felony and there's no gray area at all," Haslam said. "It's disappointing. It's really disappointing, and it just doesn't reflect the entire team."

The three Montana players are scheduled to appear in Missoula County Justice Court on Monday afternoon.

Van Ackeren is the third Griz starting linebacker to be arrested this season. Herbert Gamboa received a six-month deferred sentence after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct in August after instigating a fight at a house party. Gamboa was suspended for the team's first home game. Jeremiah Kose was arrested the same week for failing to appear in court on three misdemeanor traffic violations.

guinpen:
Ahh, youth is wasted on the young. If they only understood how precious their situation is, and then to do something so stupid.

IAA Fan:
yes, all of these guys were starters ...the one that was injured was a starter prior to his injury.

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