Police report: MU basketball players ‘jumped’ three victims in alleged assault

Missouri freshman forward Jakeenan Gant left his wallet at the scene of an alleged assault that took place in the early-morning hours Sunday, according to a Columbia Police Department report.

Gant and fellow Tigers freshman D’Angelo Allen, who have been suspended from the team, were arrested around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, along with a 22-year-old Michael J. Martin of Lone Jack, on third-degree assault charges.

Columbia Police were dispatched to Eighth and Elm in reference to a disturbance and found three victims, who had been “walking east on Elm when they were jumped by three to four black males,” according to the police report.

One male victim, 20, reported being hit two or three times as he tried to help a friend, who was on the ground being assaulted by the suspects.

Another male victim, 20, reported that he was assaulted while walking and saw one of the suspects drop his wallet.

The third male victim, 21, also reported being assaulted on the ground.

Shortly afterward, MU police stopped three males, near 404 Kentucky Ave., who matched the description given by the victims.

Witnesses identified all three as suspects in the assault and they were arrested for third-degree assault, which is a misdemeanor under Missouri statutes, and released on a signature summons.

The three men arrested were unavailable for comment. No information about their attorneys was available. The case has not yet been forwarded to the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

On Tuesday night, first-year Missouri coach Kim Anderson announced that Allen and Gant had been suspended from team activities.

“We have high standards for the conduct of our student-athletes and expect much more from them as members of our program,” Anderson’s release read, in part.

Gant, who is the reigning Mr. Georgia Basketball, was originally signed in November by former coach Frank Haith, who left Missouri for Tulsa in April.

Gant, who had transferred to School of the Osage in Lake Ozark, Mo., after the basketball season, decided to stick with the Tigers after Anderson’s hiring.

Allen, a Dallas native, signed with Missouri during Anderson’s first week.

The MU basketball program had three players arrested last season under Haith.

Sophomore point Wes Clark and former shooting guard Shane Rector, who left Missouri in May and transferred to Miami Dade Community College, were arrested in March on suspicion of marijuana possession.

In early April, former forward Zach Price, a transfer from Louisville who was dismissed by Haith before he ever played for the Tigers, was arrested twice in the same day for assault and domestic assault charges.

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 10:17 AM.