ATHENS — Jonathan LeMonte Hughley – known to Georgia football fans as “Bo” Hughley – had just passed another vehicle in his Chrysler 300 on Tuesday evening when he approached a sharp curve on River Road as it transitioned into Carlton Street in an area of the University of Georgia campus known as East Campus Village.
With star defensive back and recent 5-star signee Ellis Robinson IV riding shotgun, Hughley’s vehicle failed to negotiate the curve, struck the curb on the right side of the vehicle,
crossed a pedestrian crosswalk as it left the roadway, sheared off a 25 mph speed-limit sign at the ground and ran through grass and pine straw before returning to the roadway and coming to rest in the street.
The vehicle was disabled because the right-front tire had been completely torn off and was found in a ditch a considerable distance away.
That’s according to a 14-page police report released by the UGA Police on Friday morning in response to an open-records request filed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The extensive damage to the vehicle – plus remote camera footage captured from surrounding light poles – is why responding officers did not believe the claims of Hughley and Robinson that they had been traveling the posted speed limit of 25 mph when the accident occurred at 6:28 p.m. Tuesday. As a result of that and the resulting “200-foot damage path,” Hughley was cited for reckless driving and failure to maintain lane.
Hughley’s accident preceded two days of traffic news that has dominated Georgia football headlines the latter half of this week. On Wednesday morning, teammate Trevor Etienne pleaded no contest in an Athens-Clarke County courtroom to reckless driving charges in a case in which DUI charges were dismissed. On Wednesday night, Georgia football players Smael Mondon and Demello Jones were cited for racing each other down West Broad Street near downtown Athens. Mondon also was charged with reckless driving in that incident.
Based on ongoing reporting by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, those three arrests bring to 24 the number of known incidents in which an individual associated with the Georgia football program has been apprehended by police for speeding,
reckless driving or operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs since January 2023. That year started, of course, with the double-fatality accident in which police say UGA football recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy was under the influence of alcohol and driving a UGA-leased vehicle at more than 100 mph when it left Barnett Shoals Road, killing her and Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and injuring two other members of the football team. Georgia defensive tackle and current NFL player Jalen Carter pleaded no contest to a racing charge stemming from the same crash.
Meanwhile, new information has come to light in which two other football players – defensive backs Joenel Aguero and Justyn Rhett – allegedly were racing each other Feb. 18 on the same stretch of West Broad Street that Mondon and Jones were traveling Wednesday.
That’s according to the Athens Banner-Herald, which obtained police body-camera footage from the traffic stop. However, the players were cited only for driving 59 in a 40-mph zone.
The Banner-Herald, citing a Georgia Department of Public Safety report, also reported Friday on another incident in which senior defensive back David Daniel-Sisavanh was charged with reckless driving after leading police on a pursuit in a 2021 BMW M340i that he was driving south on the Downtown Connector in Atlanta made multiple lane changes at a high speed without using blinkers.
Georgia football coach Kirby Smart has not addressed the latest wave of speeding infractions to befall his players, but he will Tuesday during his appearance at SEC Football Media Days, according to a UGA Athletics spokesman. Smart did address the issue briefly in the spring.
“I think that’s one of the areas that we’ve really tried to target, and I think we do it better than anybody in the country,” he said in March.
1. Jan. 15, 2023 – Chandler LeCroy, UGA recruiting analyst: LeCroy and sophomore football player Devin Willock were killed in a high-speed, alcohol-related crash in which Willock was a passenger.
Football player Warren McClendon and recruiting analyst Tory Bowles also were passengers and were injured. Police concluded that LeCroy was racing Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter at more than 100 mph on Barnett Shoals Road in Athens before leaving the roadway and striking trees and an apartment building
2. Feb. 17, 2023 – Aliou Bah, freshman, offensive lineman: Stopped by Athens-Clarke County Police for driving 65 in a 45 mph zone in a gray 2020 Dodge Charger on Atlanta Highway at Epps Bridge Parkway.
He received 12 months’ probation and was ordered to complete a defensive driving course and traffic violators’ impact program, pay a $635 fine and do 40 hours of community service.
3. Feb. 21, 2023 – Jamon Dumas-Johnson, junior, linebacker: Arrested for racing and reckless driving for an incident that occurred Jan. 10. On April 17, pleaded guilty to reckless driving and a racing charge was dismissed.
4. Feb. 23, 2023 – De’Nylon Morrissette, sophomore, receiver: Stopped by Athens-Clarke County Police for driving 81 in a 45 mph zone on Atlanta Highway in his gray 2019 Dodge Charger.
5. Feb. 23, 2023 – Marvin Jones, freshman, defensive end: Stopped by Georgia State Patrol in Athens for driving 93 in a 65 mph zone on the Georgia Highway 10 Loop in Athens.
6. March 1, 2023 – Jalen Carter, junior, defensive lineman: Arrested by Athens-Clarke County Police on charges of street racing and reckless driving stemming from the Jan. 15 double-fatality. On March 16, 2023, Carter’s no-contest plea yielded a sentence of 12 months of probation, $1,000 fine, 80 hours of community service and attendance of state-approved defensive-driving course.
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