Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett was accused of robbing two people at gunpoint in an alley behind a bar early Sunday, the latest trouble for the Buckeyes star who left the school in disgrace and failed to gain early entry into the NFL.
Clarett fled the scene and was wanted on two counts of aggravated robbery. According to police, he left in a white sport utility vehicle with two other men and took only a cell phone from his alleged victims, who weren’t injured.
The 22-year-old Clarett fled when the bar owner or manager, who knew both Clarett and the victims, came into the alley and identified him shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday, detectives said.
One alleged victim, Lucas Nyarko, 28, told The Columbus Dispatch that he could not identify Clarett as the man who robbed him. He said his friend identified Clarett after police showed her photographs.
Nyarko said they were approached by a man dressed in black, who told them he needed something. Nyarko said the man pulled up his shirt and showed them a gun tucked in his pants. The man moved the gun to the front of his waistband and told them to empty their pockets.
Nyarko said after he handed the man his cell phone, a woman came out of the nightclub and yelled, “Maurice!” in greeting to the man, who hugged her. He then carried the woman, who police said was bar owner Tashona Corvi, toward the SUV, put her down and got in the vehicle.
Clarett’s cousin, Vince Marrow, told the Dispatch he spoke to Clarett’s mother on Sunday.
“She is shocked. She was getting ready to go to church and I told her there was an arrest warrant for Maurice. She was like, ‘What?”‘ he said.
A message was left Sunday at Michelle Clarett’s home in Youngstown.
Clarett’s agent, Steve Feldman, said Sunday evening he had not yet spoken to his client. “At this point we still don’t know what’s fact and what’s fiction,” he said.