Arrest Day at CFT continues unabated, with Central Michigan latest finding itself dealing with a player with an off-field issue.
According to the Mount Pleasant Morning Sun, Thomas Rawls was arrested Sunday on three felony warrants: one count of larceny, two counts of stealing credit cards. The charges stem from an April incident at the Soaring Eagle Casino.
Warrants for Rawls’ arrest were issued in mid-May.
From the Morning Sun’s account of what led to Rawls’ arrest yesterday afternoon:Video surveillance from the casino shows Rawls entering a casino eatery with two other men, observing an abandoned purse in a chair, and sitting on it, according to an affidavit requesting arrest warrants filed by a Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Police officer.
After sitting on the purse, Rawls hands it to one of his companions, who places it in a bag before the pair leave the casino, the officer said.
The officer said Rawls used a stolen credit card from the purse to buy sub sandwiches at a casino sub shop and the group later bought $33.77 worth of gas with a debit card from the stolen purse.
Despite being caught on tape, Rawls denies the allegations.
Prior to CMU’s game this past Saturday, the football program announced that Rawls would not play against Syracuse. “CMU continues to review an issue that came to our attention Friday,” a release stated in part.
Despite missing one full game, Rawls is far and away the Chips’ leading rusher with 276 yards; Saylor Lavallii is next up with 41 yards. In fact, the rest of Chips combined have rushed for just 67 yards, so Rawls missing any amount of playing time would be a significant development for 2-1 CMU.
At the moment, Rawls is indefinitely suspended from the football team.
In January of this year, Michigan announced that Rawls was one of three Wolverine players released from their scholarships. In early July, Rawls, a graduate transfer, announced that he would be transferring to CMU.