UConn Football Player Arrested After Fight

STORRS -- UConn football player Donald Thomas has been suspended for two games after being arrested Sunday by campus police and charged with assault in the third degree and breach of peace after a fight in Wings Over Storrs, a local restaurant.

According to the report, police observed a fight taking place inside the restaurant. Thomas, a senior from West Haven, was immediately apprehended and identified by witnesses and the victim as the person responsible for causing the disturbance inside the restaurant and striking one of the employees.

Coach Randy Edsall announced in a statement that Thomas will miss the games with Rutgers on Sunday and Pitt on Nov. 11 and that there would be no further comment.

The assault charge is a Class A misdemeanor and the breach of peace charge is a Class B misdemeanor. Thomas, 21, is the ninth of the 83 scholarship players on the roster at the start of the season known to have had a brush with the law in the past 18 months. He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 31.

A senior backup left guard, Thomas is a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship prior to the start of this season and had appeared in all seven games.

Current defensive starters Dan Davis, Danny Lansanah, Tyvon Branch and Donta Moore were all involved in an incident in May 2005 when a car window was shot out in Willimantic with a pellet gun.

Marvin Taylor, also involved in the pellet gun incident, was dismissed from the team Sept. 21 after he was charged Sept. 15 by campus police with sixth-degree larceny and illegal use of a credit card. He pleaded guilty to the charges Sept. 26 in Superior Court in Rockville and was sentenced to one year of probation and 50 hours of community service.

Former players Todd Dorcelus, Carl Teague and Ricky McCollum, who were dismissed from the team with two other players on Oct. 9, each had prior arrests.