Jerrell Quantez Powe (via Ridgeland Police Department)
A 35-year-old former NCAA and professional football player was arrested in Mississippi last week for allegedly kidnapping a male victim and making the man take money out of an ATM machine before police intervened. Jerrell Quantez Powe, a Waynesboro, Mississippi, local who played college football at the University of Mississippi before being drafted into the NFL, was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of kidnapping, jail records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
A second man, 35-year-old Gavin Allen Bates, was also arrested as an accomplice in connection with the alleged kidnapping. The Sacramento, California, man was similarly taken into custody on Thursday and charged with one count of kidnapping as well as one count of a controlled substance violation, per booking records.
Gavin Allen Bates (via Madison County Detention Center)
The Ridgeland Police Department said officers responded to an emergency call at approximately 1:40 p.m. on Jan. 12 regarding a report of a person allegedly being held against their will at a Chase Bank in Madison.
Upon arriving at the scene, the officers made contact with the victim, who allegedly told them that he had been “kidnapped in Laurel, Mississippi and was taken to Chase Bank, against his will, and forced to withdraw money,” police stated in a press release. Laurel is approximately 100 southeast of Madison.
Speaking to the responding officers, the victim allegedly identified Powe and Bates as his abductors. Both men were still on the scene and were taken into custody by police.
Powe and Bates were both being held in the Madison County Detention Center and their bonds had not been set as of Tuesday morning. The defendants are currently both scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 7, according to police records.
Powe, who is listed in the booking report as 6-foot-3 and 350 pounds, played defensive tackle for the Ole Miss Rebels from 2008 until 2010. During his time in the NCAA, Powe twice played on teams that won the Cotton Bowl and was named to the SEC all-conference second-team in 2009 and 2010, finishing his career with 69 tackles, seven sacks, and one interception.
Powe entered the 2011 NFL draft and was selected in the sixth round by the Kansas City Chiefs. He later played for the Houston Texans and the Washington Redskins – who have since changed their team name to the Commanders – before he was released in 2016.
Powe is not the only person affiliated with collegiate athletics facing serious accusations.
Current University of Alabama basketball player Darius Hairston Miles, 21, was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with the fatal shooting of a young woman over the weekend. Police identified the victim as 23-year-old victim Jamea Jonae Harris.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, officers with the city and university police departments at approximately 1:45 a.m. on Sunday responded to a call about an alleged shooting near Bryant-Denny Stadium. The driver of a vehicle had stopped at the Walk of Champions after spotting a university police vehicle and sought help, saying he and the female passenger in the car had been shot.
“The vehicle, in addition to the driver, contained a deceased female that had been shot,” police said. “The driver reported that their vehicle had been shot into, and that he had also returned fire in self-defense, and may have struck a suspect.”
Police said the shooting was the result of a “minor argument” that occurred between the suspect and the victim earlier in the evening.
Miles and an alleged accomplice, 20-year-old Michael Lynn Davis, were both being held in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond.
Read the press release below.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
(images via Ridgeland Police Department and Madison County Detention Center)
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