Smael Mondon had his charges dropped.
The “Reckless Driving” charges got dropped, but before we go rushing to conclusions, here’s the details:
According to an Athens-Clarke County Police report, which was previously obtained by ESPN, a police officer saw two vehicles side-by-side accelerate “at a high rate of speed and begin to race one another.” Mondon was in the left lane, driving a 2022 black Dodge Charger, and his teammate, freshman defensive back Demello Jones, was in a 2021 gray Porsche Panamera.
According to the report, the officer paced Mondon at 75 mph in a 40 mph zone and pulled him over. Mondon denied racing and stated that he didn’t know the driver of the other vehicle. Jones then pulled over, though, and told the officer he was checking on his “teammate.”
The officer stated that Jones was released on a citation for racing because he voluntarily pulled over and was not the primary vehicle in the traffic stop. According to the report, as Jones was beginning to leave, Mondon “leaned over to [Jones] and stated: ‘Do not say anything in the group chat.'”
On the way to the jail, Mondon continued to deny that he knew Jones, according to the report. The officer asked Mondon about his remark about the group chat, and Mondon “changed the subject and began asking about my personal life.”
Sigh. Fast, rich, and stupid is no way to go through life, son. I’m sure that was just another Panamera that you see on every corner in Athens, right?
I hope the stairs were steep for those conditioning mea culpas.
And in a not-so-surprising twist of narrative, we now have this:
What exactly would we be paying the ACCPD for? Pretty sure if that was accurate, Chip Towers and company wouldn’t have anything to write about.
That title reminds of a book by Alex Hawkins: My Story (And I’m Sticking To It). A good friend of mine when I was living @ St. Simons had a place @ Shellman Bluff up in McIntosh County. Hawkins and a few other ex NFL players liked to go there to get away from the press and party. Really liked it there, it reminded me a lot of where I’m from, Warwick, Ga. on Lake Blackshear, except this was on the coast and man you could get some great shrimp there. Met Hawkins one trip and let’s just say that there was quite a bit of indulging going on, and damn he had some great stories.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 😉
You, Otis and I should connect … we’re all from the same neck of the SOWEGA woods.
Hope to one of these days, would be fun. Back issues, as I explained to Otis, make it hard to get out much. Shoot, I only live about a half a mile from that ‘rascally rascal’. Maybe one of these days we can watch a game down on his dock, he’s got one hell of a setup for watching sports down there.
The Bama ass mad is a wonderful thing to see.
I guess the racing will continue until someone runs over and kills an Athens pedestrian.
Having been there and done that, I don’t know that there’s much that can be done including tragedies and punishments. I eventually aged out of it. But there was a time when if I was driving I was going as fast as I could go. I had plenty of reasons not to drive like an idiot, but it didn’t change anything. And I didn’t have a Porsche, a new Charger or a NIL deal to pay for my lawyer, tickets or insurance. Just damn lucky to have made it through. I can’t judge on this one.
Now I don’t think I would have told that story. Tell the truth or stfu. When it comes to the police, the latter is often the better choice.
Actually, that’s happened and the dude walked. Kudos to A/CC juries, btw.
https://www.redandblack.com/athensnews/man-charged-with-hit-and-run-that-killed-uga-student-found-not-guilty/article_967f6ef6-383f-11ed-b747-bf0959568e7d.html
A lot of UGA students (not just football players) that grew up watching Fast and Furious only see the fantasy of street racing not the repercussions. I mean it’s crazy, but It’s like no different than me growing up watching GI Joe and then finding out training for gunfights (I’m was a loser ass fake, peacetime sailor) ain’t 25% red lazers vs 25% blue lazers and 50% knowing (cuz knowing is half the battle). Fast cars aren’t just free for athletes. Half the kids that worked for me had nice, fast cars thanks to Hope Scholarship & Student loans that let their parents buy them cars as HS graduation gifts. I even had one young lady tell me after a speeding ticket she HAD to do 90 mph on 316 so she would be used to GA 400 when she went home. Honestly, the logic wasn’t terrible.
I guess ultimately if speeding tickets and dropped charges are the shiny thing keeping Chump Towers not caring what fans think, holding “the””powerful””accountable,” hiding in the bushes and spying on Toppers instead of snooping around other places it might be worth it…
I can’t believe the guy walked on those charges. Good grief that is depressing.
Maybe they couldn’t prove he was the one driving?? Hard to imagine any other scenario leading to acquittal on all charges, especially the hit and run. That’s pretty much an open and shut case if he’s the one driving. I guess its possible to not know you’ve hit someone, but it would be pretty rare.
For DECADES thinking Athens prosecutors posses the competence to win cases and a criminal defense attorney’s low hanging fruit of making sure Athens juries hate the students really make trial/court proceedings a little different than what one might expect
Got a feeling “double secret probation” ain’t to far away….GO DAWGS!!
75 in a 40 is reason enough for the reckless driving charge IMHO. This is coming from someone who did get a speeding ticket on a country road back in the day where the GSP officer was kind enough not to tack on a reckless driving charge (although really, I was alone so I wasn’t a danger to others).
I never had a temptation to drive like that on a city street.
I agree! I was caught in my Z28 heading to the coast with a teammate and 2 girls, going 112 mph just outside Dothan. The deputy ran up and said ” son you had best be glad the High Sheriff didn’t stop you”…then he said “you got any ID”…and I said “Bout what?”…
That was the only night I ever spent in jail and man you talking about running boards in the Steg…
It seems that maybe Kirby does have some influence with the ACCPD through the back door.