KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Three freshmen Tennessee football players, including highly touted wide receiver recruit Nu'Keese Richardson and starting safety Janzen Jackson, were charged with attempted armed robbery Thursday morning.
Richardson, 18, and Jackson, 18, along with defensive back Mike Edwards, 18, and companion Marie Montmarquet, 22, were each charged with three counts of attempted armed robbery in connection with an incident at a gas station in an area known as "The Strip" at the edge of Tennessee's campus.
Richardson was being held Thursday afternoon on a $19,500 bond. Edwards was released on a $19,500 bond and Jackson was released on his own recognizance.
"Mr. Jackson vehemently asserts his innocence, and we hope that this will become apparent in the next 24 to 48 hours," Jackson's attorney Don Bosch said in a statement. It was not immediately known if Richardson and Edwards had attorneys.
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The three players are the first arrested during the tenure of first-year coach Lane Kiffin, who on Thursday said he would not make any comment on the situation until he knew more. Kiffin's predecessor, Phillip Fulmer, was often criticized for being too lax on a number of his players who had discipline problems.
"We're gathering all the information so we don't know exactly what happened. Unfortunately there was an incident. We made it 11 months and 11 days without (any incidents). We'll deal with the information as it comes in," Kiffin said.
Kiffin also declined to say if he had spoken with any of the players or what kind of discipline they might be facing. He also refused to comment on how the incident would affect the Volunteers as they prepare to travel to Mississippi on Saturday.
The three victims told police they were sitting in their parked vehicle just before 2 a.m. Thursday at a gas station near Tennessee's campus when two males dressed in hooded jackets, one brandishing a handgun, approached and demanded, "Give us everything you've got."