RB Smith counters with harassment charges against alleged victim

By Andrew Gribble
Auburn University Beat Reporter
Published: August 31, 2009

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Auburn University running back Eric Smith has filed charges of harassment against the Auburn student he allegedly assaulted outside a local hotel, the Opelika-Auburn News has learned.

Arrangements have been made for Decari Jenkins to surrender to Auburn police in the wake of Smith’s charges, assistant police chief Tommy Dawson said. Jenkins will be processed just like Smith was early last week, when he turned himself in two days after Jenkins accused him of 3rd-degree assault.

“Now it’s going to be for the court to decide,“ Dawson said.

Smith is due in court Nov. 5, where he could face up to a year in jail and no more than a $6,000 fine if convicted of the Class A misdemeanor. Dawson said another court date will be set for the allegations against Jenkins, but the two cases could very well be settled at the same time.

Smith’s allegations are not as severe as Jenkins’.

Harassment is considered a Class C misdemeanor and is punishable of not more than three months in prison, according to Alabama Code.

According to Section 13A-11-8 of Alabama’s code of law, the crime applies if a person “strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise touches a person or subjects him or her to physical contact; uses abusive or obscene language or makes an obscene gesture towards another person. Harassment shall include a threat, verbal or non-verbal, made with the intent to carry out the threat that would cause a reasonable person who is the target of the threat to fear for his or her safety,“ the law states.

After arriving at the Lexington Hotel in response to a call about a fight, police officers witnessed Smith, 19, strike Jenkins in the back of the head, which knocked Jenkins unconscious, according to a complete report obtained by the Opelika-Auburn News. Smith was arrested for disorderly conduct at 1:42 a.m., Aug. 21, and transported to the Lee County Detention Center. He was sober and did not resist arrest.

Jenkins was taken by ambulance to East Alabama Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries. Jenkins suffered a cut and “severe swelling around his eye,” according to the report.

A warrant was issued for Smith’s arrest later that afternoon after Jenkins filed a report alleging that Smith assaulted him. 

Smith told officers at the scene that Jenkins punched him in the nose earlier in the night, according to the report. Smith “did appear to have blood coming from his nose at the time of the incident,” the police report says.

In the new report, Smith is alleging that he was harassed sometime between 1:15 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. Smith, who was also treated for injuries, did not know Jenkins, according to the report.

Smith, a bulky sophomore tailback who ran for 83 yards in 2008, has not been with the team since the incident. Auburn coach Gene Chizik has refused to offer any timeline for a potential return.