Rawls arrested, suspended indefinitely
Thomas Rawls, the Central Michigan University football team’s leading rusher, was arrested Sunday on three felonies by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Police Department, according to Isabella County court documents.
A press release from CMU Athletics said the running back was held from CMU’s 40-3 loss to Syracuse on Saturday due to “an issue that came to the team’s attention on Friday.”
Rawls is charged with one count of larceny in a building, one count of possessing a stolen credit card and one count of credit fraud. The three charges are punishable by up to four years in prison and $5,000 in fines for each charge.
Tribal Police responded on April 8 to the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort for a complaint of a stolen purse. According to the officer’s report, Rawls and a friend used credit cards stolen from the purse to purchase sub sandwiches and gasoline totaling in $33.77.
The name on the receipt for the illegally purchased items was Thomas Rawls, according to court documents.
Rawls admitted to being in the casino and at the sub shop at the time of the incident. He denied going through the purse or assisting in its theft according to an affidavit from the Tribal Police.
The graduate transfer student from the University of Michigan posted his $1,500 bond Monday.
Rawls has a preliminary examination set for Thursday at 8:15 a.m.
According to a team spokesman, Rawls is suspended indefinitely from all team activities.
Video surveillance was used in the investigation. According the affidavit, It showed the following:
2:53 a.m. Two females and one male sitting at a table get up and leave.
2:54 a.m. Three males come up to the counter. The male in the black stocking hate is believed to be Thomas Rawls.
3:02 a.m.Rawls sits on the purse that was left sitting on the counter.
3:04 a.m. A second unidentified male sits down at the table with Rawls
3:05 a.m. Rawls moves the purse to the second male who then places the purse into his bag
