UGA Bulldogs football player arrested for family violence incident

By Joe Johnson

A University of Georgia football player was arrested this week for allegedly injuring his girlfriend during a fight in a UGA dorm room.

Rodarius Thomas, 20, was charged with felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor battery and released from the county jail upon posting bonds totaling $1,850.

According to a UGA police report, when officers responded to McWhorter Hall Sunday night to investigate a report of a loud argument, they met with a 17-year-old female who identified herself as Thomas’ girlfriend, who alleged that during an argument over a male who she was following on Instagram, Thomas grabbed her arm, bruising it.

He also pushed her, and she fell “face first into the bed leaving bruises and abrasions on her shins,” and when she tried to get up, he pushed her down again, causing an abrasion to her left leg. Thomas allegedly stood in the dorm room’s doorway to keep his girlfriend from leaving, according to the police report.

The alleged victim told officers that Thomas said to “not tell anyone about the bruises he gave her,” the report noted.

The teen reportedly told police that she and Thomas, a wide receiver who recently transferred from Mississippi State, had lived together in Mississippi and in his native Alabama and were planning to live together in an Athens apartment.

On the afternoon of Thomas’ arrest, The UGA Athletics Department released the following statement:

"While we are limited in what we can say about the incident, the report is disappointing and not reflective of the high standards we have for our student-athletes on and off the field," the statement said. "In addition to following internal Athletic Association policies, we will be working closely with our administration to ensure we cooperate fully with all law enforcement and campus protocols.”

Thomas posted this message on his Facebook page that same afternoon:

“Y’all know I’m not that type of person. I know better than that my momma taught me well! I’ll never EVER put my hands on a female!! Gots to get away from social media.”