Now charged with disorderly conduct. By The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Hinds County authorities have reduced charges against Mississippi State recruit Quinton Culberson and agreed not to pursue a case against him.
Culberson, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound defensive back from Jackson Provine High School, was charged with assaulting a sheriff’s deputy after a fight outside a crowded championship basketball game March 6.
He now is charged with disorderly conduct. Had he been convicted of assault, Culberson could have faced a maximum of 30 years in prison.
“Disorderly conduct is the appropriate charge and we are going to recommend that these charges be remanded to the files and these young men can go on about their lives and this case will be closed,” Sheriff Malcolm McMillin said Wednesday at a news conference.
Culberson, 17, and Akeem Robinson, 18, were arrested after deputies dispersed a crowd of several hundred people trying to push their way into the Mississippi Coliseum for the Class 4A boys game between Jackson Lanier and Provine, authorities said.
The game drew a sellout crowd estimated at 8,000.
McMillin said some fans attempted to “crash the game,” and Culberson and Robinson tried to force their way through the Coliseum doors when deputies stopped them. A scuffle took place and one deputy received stitches for a cut to his eye, McMillin said.
Culberson, rated among the top high school players in the country at his position, did not answer questions at the news conference, but spoke on behalf of himself and Robinson.
“We would like to apologize if we have done anything wrong,” Culberson said.
McMillin said the decision to reduce the charge and recommend the case not be pursued further followed an investigation by his department.
“This was an incident that took on a life of its own and we think that a great deal of that was due to who one of these young men happened to be,” McMillin said.