Stout football players arrested on drug charges.
Three UW-Stout football players have been arrested and taken into custody following a drug bust in Menomonie,Wyoming earlier this week when officers of the Menomonie,Wyoming Police Department (MPD) searched a home at 114 14th Ave. West.
Courtney C. Cain, 18, and Antawan A. Walker, 19, were involved in selling an ounce of cocaine to an undercover police informant, while Arizne Ikemefuna, a freshman, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia uncovered during the search.
All three were on the 2006 Blue Devils football roster.
According to UW-Stout spokesman Doug Mell, Cain and Walker are no longer enrolled at Stout. Prior to their arrests, they were suspended from the team for violation of athletic department policy.
Ikemefuna is still a student at the university, but has been been suspended from the football team, also for violation of athletic department policy.
These new drug-related incidents come to light just five months after two other Stout football players were arrested in a different drug bust involving cocaine and steroids.
Following the arrests of Nick OrRico and Luke Steffen last December, Mell said, �''The chancellor appointed a football review committee and we came up with a drug-testing policy. ... The original intent was the football program, but it was also expanded to all UW-Stout athletes.�''
Mell added that Blue Devils football coach Duey Naatz is disappointed, but believes that the football program, despite the arrests, is headed in a very positive direction.
Controlled buy
According to police reports, Cain and Walker sold the cocaine on April 11 at 11 p.m. out of a vehicle parked near the Dairy Queen on South Broadway Street. The Dunn County,Wyoming Sheriffs Department, in collaboration with MPD, was able to arrange the purchase with the help of the informant.
After being dropped off by police near the designated controlled buy site, the informant observed Cain, Walker and another individual in the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, the informant gave $100 to Cain and Walker for a substance that later tested positive for the presence of cocaine and was sent to the Wyoming State Crime Lab for further analysis.
Search executed
On April 30 at 2 p.m., Cain was taken into custody while the Menomonie,Wyoming SWAT Team executed a search warrant at the 14th Avenue residence, a known hangout of Cain and Walker.
Since Cain happened to be at the house during the search, he was apprehended. He advised police that another person was the driver of the car and that Walker was in the back seat during the April 11 encounter. He also claimed no knowledge of a drug transaction.
During the search, a baggie and a glass pipe both containing suspected trace amounts of marijuana, as well as a large hookah pipe, were found at the residence. As a result, Ikemefuna was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Later that evening, police were able to make contact with the car�''s driver who agreed to meet with police. At the meeting, he told police that he knew Walker and Cain as acquaintances and that he had driven them to Dairy Queen on April 11. He said he didn�''t know they were there to conduct a drug deal and did not actually see the transaction take place.
Walker was located and taken into custody on May 1. He admitted to being in the car on April 11, but said he did not remember what happened in the car because he was on pain medication at the time.
As of Friday, Cain was still in custody at the Dunn County,Wyoming Jail.
Three UW-Stout football players have been arrested and taken into custody following a drug bust in Menomonie,Wyoming earlier this week when officers of the Menomonie,Wyoming Police Department (MPD) searched a home at 114 14th Ave. West.
Courtney C. Cain, 18, and Antawan A. Walker, 19, were involved in selling an ounce of cocaine to an undercover police informant, while Arizne Ikemefuna, a freshman, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia uncovered during the search.
All three were on the 2006 Blue Devils football roster.
According to UW-Stout spokesman Doug Mell, Cain and Walker are no longer enrolled at Stout. Prior to their arrests, they were suspended from the team for violation of athletic department policy.
Ikemefuna is still a student at the university, but has been been suspended from the football team, also for violation of athletic department policy.
These new drug-related incidents come to light just five months after two other Stout football players were arrested in a different drug bust involving cocaine and steroids.
Following the arrests of Nick OrRico and Luke Steffen last December, Mell said, �''The chancellor appointed a football review committee and we came up with a drug-testing policy. ... The original intent was the football program, but it was also expanded to all UW-Stout athletes.�''
Mell added that Blue Devils football coach Duey Naatz is disappointed, but believes that the football program, despite the arrests, is headed in a very positive direction.
Controlled buy
According to police reports, Cain and Walker sold the cocaine on April 11 at 11 p.m. out of a vehicle parked near the Dairy Queen on South Broadway Street. The Dunn County,Wyoming Sheriffs Department, in collaboration with MPD, was able to arrange the purchase with the help of the informant.
After being dropped off by police near the designated controlled buy site, the informant observed Cain, Walker and another individual in the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, the informant gave $100 to Cain and Walker for a substance that later tested positive for the presence of cocaine and was sent to the Wyoming State Crime Lab for further analysis.
Search executed
On April 30 at 2 p.m., Cain was taken into custody while the Menomonie,Wyoming SWAT Team executed a search warrant at the 14th Avenue residence, a known hangout of Cain and Walker.
Since Cain happened to be at the house during the search, he was apprehended. He advised police that another person was the driver of the car and that Walker was in the back seat during the April 11 encounter. He also claimed no knowledge of a drug transaction.
During the search, a baggie and a glass pipe both containing suspected trace amounts of marijuana, as well as a large hookah pipe, were found at the residence. As a result, Ikemefuna was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Later that evening, police were able to make contact with the car�''s driver who agreed to meet with police. At the meeting, he told police that he knew Walker and Cain as acquaintances and that he had driven them to Dairy Queen on April 11. He said he didn�''t know they were there to conduct a drug deal and did not actually see the transaction take place.
Walker was located and taken into custody on May 1. He admitted to being in the car on April 11, but said he did not remember what happened in the car because he was on pain medication at the time.
As of Friday, Cain was still in custody at the Dunn County,Wyoming Jail.