Mark Dantonio’s Rough Off-Season For Spartan Football Continues: Delton Williams Taken Into Custody & Suspended

Mark Dantonio’s Rough Off-Season For Spartan Football Continues: Delton Williams Taken Into Custody & Suspended Mark Dantonio isn’t a happy camper tonight.

Mark Dantonio’s Rough Off-Season For Spartan Football Continues: Delton Williams Taken Into Custody & Suspended

Mark Dantonio isn’t a happy camper tonight. Spartan RB Delton Williams from Erie, PA, was arrested on charges of brandishing a firearm by the Michigan State Police. According to people at the Ingham County Jail in Mason (where he was taken for custody), the crime is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine.

According to people at the jail, “Mr. Williams was brought in just before midnight on Monday. The incident happened approximately 7:30 PM prior that evening.” Williams is scheduled to a pretrial hearing on April 15, 2015, at 9:00 am after he pleaded not guilty today. The hearing will be conducted by Judge Richard Ball.

Williams was involved in a situation in which he allegedly cut a driver off and when the driver of the other vehicle honked at him, he showed his weapon, but did not point it at the other driver. It is important to know that Williams does have a concealed weapons permit per court documents. That allowed Williams to have the weapon with him and in his immediate custody.

When Spartan Nation checked this afternoon, Williams was still in custody, but tonight ABC 24 in Erie, PA, has reported that he now has been released on a $500 bond.

Mark Dantonio issued this statement, “Delton Williams has been suspended indefinitely from all team-related activities.”

This continues what has not been a good three weeks for Spartan football.

WR Macgarrett Kings was arrested as well back on February 28, 2015. He was charged with drunken and disorderly conduct and obstructing, resisting, hindering or assaulting a police officer. Those are misdemeanors that are punishable by up to 93 days in jail and $500 in fines. The pretrial hearing is scheduled for this Thursday in East Lansing District Court 54-B. Kings is scheduled to be a senior when the next football season starts. Allegedly as part of the incident, Kings jumped into the air and kicked a parking enforcement vehicle.

Mark Dantonio said after that incident became public, “We’re aware of the incident. All of our student-athletes are held to a high standard, and individuals will be held accountable for their actions. We will manage this situation internally.”

According to the police report, arresting officer Travis Bove alleges that he had warned Kings between 10-15 times to get against the patrol car and place his hands behind his back. When Kings would not comply, backup arrived and he was taken into custody. Bove also alleges that Kings informed him that he did not know who he was. Presumably according this reporter’s interpretation, Kings was referring to his status as an MSU football player.

Kings is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and when his blood alcohol content was checked at the jail it was allegedly 0.18.

It is interesting that Williams was quickly suspended via Dantonio and not Kings. This is the first public behavior issue for Williams, but not Kings.

Kings had another public incident last year that also involved alcohol and an arrest. He was taken into custody last April 6 in Delhi Township. That arrest was for operating while intoxicated and driving under the influence with blood-alcohol content of 0.17 or above. When he was issued a breath test for that incident, it was 0.234 and made his case punishable as part of Michigan’s “Super Drunk” law.

Kings sat out nearly the entire spring football season for that incident. He was sentenced on July 7 of last year by the 55th District Court for a DWI and given 13 months of probation. That probation came to a conclusion in mid-January of this year after his final payment of fines was made.

Dantonio’s quick suspension of Williams and apparently not suspending Kings (or at least acknowledging it publicly) has raised some eyebrows inside Spartan Football and Spartan Athletics. Although no one would discuss the matter on the record, Kings has had some other difficult situations (not of legal nature) since his arrival at MSU. Because Dantonio has spoken often of three strikes to his players, many wonder if his time with MSU football will soon be coming to an end because of the two publicized arrests and other internal MSU football matters.

Only Mark Dantonio knows that answer as MSU athletic director by nature has told me in the past that he lets each coach handle the discipline of their team.

Spartan Nation will continue to monitor the situation and report back with any new information.

It is important to note that in most programs, including Michigan State, the vast majority of the student athletes are well behaved, law abiding citizens and frequent positive contributors in the community. Many of those fine acts of kindness are not as publicized as public failures because many do not do it for those reasons and make it known to the media. As at most schools, many coaches and players do not do good will efforts for the publicity.