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Why was Glen Rice Jr. in a car when a gun was fired?

Glen Rice Jr

Georgia Tech’s Glen Rice Jr. (41) misses a dunk during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Boston College, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

AP

We told you Tuesday about Brian Gregory’s decision to boot Glen Rice, Jr., from the Georgia Tech team.

Specifically, blog brother Mike Miller wrote that this decision came “less than a week after he was charged with permitting unlawful operation following a shooting incident near the school’s campus.”

Well, it was a little more than that.

Rice was riding with graduate assistant London Warren, a former point guard at Dayton, and a man named Stephen Pryor in a Cadillac Escalade that was pulled over after reports of a shooting outside an Atlanta nightclub. The story, according to those in the car, is that Pryor was trying to remove one of two handguns they were in possession of -- Pryor has a license to carry -- from in between the seats when he accidentally pulled the trigger.

Here’s where it gets a bit confusing: Warren was charged with DUI-less safe (i.e. he appeared drunk but refused a breath test). Pryor was charged with discharging a firearm while intoxicated. Rice, however, was only charged with permitting unlawful operation which, more or less, means he’s in trouble for knowingly letting Warren drive drunk.

That charge, however, is rare:

I spoke with Noah Pines, an Atlanta criminal defense attorney, about it. He called it “unusual” and said that in 10 years as a prosecutor and eight years as a defense attorney, he’d never come across that charge and seemed to think it will be difficult to win a conviction.

“You’d have to have some sort of proof that [Rice] knew that the driver was intoxicated and he knowingly permitted him to drive anyway,” Pines said. “If you’re not intoxicated, why would you ever let an intoxicated driver drive you?”

Further, the only mention in the narrative section of the two incident reports about Rice was that he was charged. Had Rice done something to give police the impression that he had intentionally allowed London Warren to drive drunk, it would make sense for it to be in there.


I’m no legal analyst, but something here just isn’t adding up. I’m not only referring to the fact that a graduate assistant for the Yellow Jackets was riding in a car with two guns and a player that had been suspended from the team twice (including the last six games of the season) on the day the team was supposed to play their ACC tournament opener.

Is there more to this story? Were those gunshots actually intended for someone?

Whatever the case, Rice seems to have made himself untouchable to any coach that would be looking to add him. He’s still got a year of eligibility left, but given the amount of trouble he caused during his time with Tech, who is going to want him?

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.