Florida State University star athlete and Heisman trophy winner Jameis Winston has been suspended from the university baseball team. The reason: Winston walked out of a Tallahassee Publix without paying for about $30 worth of crab legs and other seafood items.
This is not a criminal arrest, this is a civil citation program," said Leon County Sheriffs Major Mike Wood during a press conference about Winston's crab leg theft.
Winston was not arrested for the incident. Instead, he will have to complete at least 20 hours of community service. Wood says Winston was cooperative when deputies questioned him at his home about the incident which occurred Tuesday night, and he admitted to taking the crab legs and crawfish without paying for them.
Word of Winston's seafood heist quickly made the rounds on social media, with State Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam tweeting from his account @adamputnam, "Everyone loves #FreshFromFlorida crab legs."
But the theft is not without more serious consequences.
"He has to fulfill the obligations for the program or the case will be diverted back to the state attorney's office for prosecution," Wood told a crowded room of reporters at the Leon County Sheriffs Office headquarters. "We have no reason to believe he's not going to fulfill all the obligations associated with this program,"
FSU Baseball Coach Mike Martin issued a statement saying Winston has been suspended from the team. Head football coach Jimbo Fisher says he supports that move but did not say whether Winston would face a football suspension as well.
Winston helped FSU secure the 2014 college football championship, but he was also involved in a sexual assault investigation which resulted in no charges.
FSU is currently under investigation for Title IX violations stemming from the way it handled the incident and if the federal government does decide the university failed in its obligations to properly investigate sexual harassment, discrimination and assault claims under Title IX guidelines, it could be punished.
