Tony Joiner faces burglary charge status for the LSU game not sure?

Florida senior safety and team captain Tony Joiner missed practice Tuesday, several hours after being arrested on a felony burglary charge that morning. Coach Urban Meyer said Joiner would not practice again until Meyer finds out more about the events that led to the pre-dawn arrest.

Meyer would only say that he was “disappointed” about Joiner’s arrest, and would not say if Joiner would play Saturday against top-ranked Louisiana State. Joiner is one of only two returning defensive starters who returned for this season, and is fifth on the team with 20 tackles,13 solo. “I don’t know the whole story yet. I’m still getting information, like a lot of people are,” Meyer said. “Until I found out everything, he won’t do anything.” According to a Gainesville Police Department report, Joiner forced open a heavy electronic gate at an impound lot to retrieve his girlfriend’s car. Joiner reportedly drove the car out of the lot and was attempting to shut the gate when he was confronted by two witnesses, at least one of whom was an employee of Watson’s Towing, who had called police.

Joiner returned the car to the lot and cooperated with officers, Gainesville Police spokesman Lt. Keith Kameg said. Joiner told police he planned on paying the $76 fee to retrieve the car, but when the attendant was not present, he got impatient. “He was very polite, very nice,” Kameg said. Joiner was released from the Alachua County jail by 2 p.m. Tuesday. He faces one count of burglary to a dwelling, a second-degree felony, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine if convicted, said Spencer Mann, spokesman for the Alachua County State Attorney’s Office. The State Attorney will receive the police department’s investigation as soon as today and will then conduct its own investigation to determine what formal charges, if any, to file, Mann said. Stan Forron, the owner of the property that houses Watson’s Towing and two other impound lots, said that he was surprised that Joiner was arrested and especially at the severity of the charge. Forron said he was “99 percent sure” the gate was not locked. “It’s happened before, when people have busted up the fence to get in,

and they haven’t been arrested then,” Forron said. “I don’t understand the second-degree felony.” But Kameg said the officer who responded to the scene found evidence a crime had been committed, and if employees from the impound lot had wanted charges dismissed, they could have done it at the scene. “If you don’t want us to respond, don’t call,” Kameg said. “We do not, have not, and will not get in a position where we’re forcing people to pay their towing bill.” Should Meyer choose to suspend Joiner, sophomore Dorian Munroe would be Joiner’s likely replacement at strong safety. The rest of the secondary would include two freshmen (corner Joe Haden and free safety Major Wright) and a sophomore (either Markihe Anderson or Wondy Pierre-Louis). Joiner reportedly was briefly kicked off the Florida football team by Meyer early in Meyer’s tenure, but was quickly reinstated.

Meyer has said numerous times during this season that Joiner has become a role model. He is one of four players voted by teammates as a captain. Sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow, who shares an on-campus apartment with Joiner, said after Tuesday’s practice that Joiner was “doing alright” and “trying to get through it.” Tebow said he was confident Joiner didn’t intend to commit a crime, and should be allowed to play against LSU. “Tony is a great player, a great friend, a great kid,” Tebow said. “He wasn’t trying to do anything that was wrong so I think he should play.” According the records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Joiner, 21, was arrested in February 2004, before graduating from Haines City High School, on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in his hometown of Lake Alfred. Joiner also was cited for possession of alcohol by a minor in December 2005, according to records from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Charges in both cases were dropped.