After a traffic stop gone awry, Shai Werts is back on the field at Georgia Southern. The Eagles’ starting quarterback had been charged with cocaine possession, but police announced that those charges had been dropped last night.
Georgia Southern QB Shai Werts reinstated after arrest for cocaine possession. The white substance on his car turned out to be bird poop 💩https://t.co/C6NrW6HJeD
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) August 9, 2019
On July 31, Werts was pulled over by police in South Carolina for speeding. Werts was driving through Saluda County on his way to see his grandmother when he was pulled over. During the stop, police questioned him about a white substance that was on the hood of his car, and a roadside test determined that the substance was cocaine.
Werts was charged and suspended from the team as a result of the arrest, but it tuns out that the roadside test was faulty. The sample was sent to the state lab, and they concluded this week that the substance on the hood of Werts’ car was not cocaine or any other controlled substance.
A @FOX5Atlanta investigation found over 140 false-positive cases in GA in a single year …and those are just the cases where the victims didn’t give uphttps://t.co/z3RPBQfTJw
— Patrick Claybon (@PatrickClaybon) August 9, 2019
It turns out these false positives aren’t that unusual. An Atlanta news team reported that they had found that this particular test returned over 140 false positives, but there is no indication the officers knew that this test was faulty.
We've finally gotten a look at #ShaiWerts car hood from last week's arrest.@LGonTV and I have the latest on Werts' cocaine charge being dropped and his suspension being lifted tonight on @WTOC11. pic.twitter.com/0rsdElZIww
— Jake Wallace (@WTOCJake) August 9, 2019
The details of the arrest have led many to question the motives of the officers involved. Werts had stated that the substance on the hood of his car was bird poop, and according to the arrest report, officers believed that the quarterback had thrown cocaine onto the hood of his car. The logical gymnastics in that conclusion seem specious at best.
Werts is entering his third season as the starting quarterback for Georgia Southern. He was held out of the team’s first two practices of the season while the legal process played out, but he was back on the field in Statesboro today.
In two seasons at the head of the triple option offense, Werts has run for 1530 yards and 18 touchdowns. He made great strides through the air last year too, throwing 10 touchdowns without an interception.
H/T ESPN
