Lanett athletes arrested, charged after fighting on school grounds

Published 1:58 pm Tuesday, March 6, 2018

LANETT — Three Lanett High School athletes have been arrested and charged with disorderly conduct — one also with third degree assault — following an incident on school grounds Monday, March 5.

Baraskious Dowdell, 18, was charged with third degree assault and disorderly conduct, while Emanuel Littles, 19, and Terrion Truitt, 19, were both charged with disorderly conduct, according to the Lanett Police Department arrest report sent to The Valley Times-News Tuesday morning.

The report also names a fourth individual, Jabarskious Boyd, 20, who was charged with disorderly conduct.

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Lanett City Schools Superintendent Phillip Johnson confirmed the individuals were involved in an altercation at the school over a “private issue.”

“It was not related to the school at all,” he said. “We do not get these types of issues often.”

In response to the fight, the superintendent said all parties will be disciplined according to school rules.

“We do not tolerate fighting and there are mechanisms in place to deal with the matter,” Johnson said. “We will follow school policy. All students are treated the same.”

Johnson also reinforced that the students involved do not have a history of fighting, or any other behavioral problems.

“This is atypical for [something like] this to happen,” he said. “That is the shocking part. It is unusual for all parties.”

No additional information was made available by the Lanett Police Department at the time of publication.

Dowdell, Littles and Truitt — all seniors — have experienced great athletic success in their high school careers.

In January, Dowdell was named the Class 2A Lineman of the Year after totaling more than 100 tackles and 14 sacks for the Panthers football team last fall. He played a major role in Lanett’s run to its first state championship in December.

Truitt did, too. He was a finalist for the 2A Back of the Year award, given to the state’s top offensive player in the classification.

More recently, he helped propel the Panthers basketball team to a third consecutive state title as one of its starting guards. Lanett beat St. Luke’s Episcopal in Friday’s championship, 41-38. Littles, a forward, was named MVP of the state tournament.

Dowdell, Truitt and Littles all have signed college athletic scholarships. Dowdell and Truitt inked with Independence Community College in Kansas. Littles signed with Florida Atlantic University.