Tide football player Jeremy Elder arrested, still jailed

TUSCALOOSA | University of Alabama football player Jeremy Elder was arrested Sunday and charged with two counts of first-degree robbery, The Tuscaloosa News has learned.

Elder, 19, was still being held Monday afternoon at the Tuscaloosa County Jail on $120,000 bail. He was arrested by the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department, with a University of Alabama Police Department investigator serving the warrants.

According to the UA Police Web site, two male UA students reported to UAPD on Saturday night that they were the victims of a robbery. The students reported that an unknown male approached them as they were walking to their vehicle in the Small Group Housing parking lot shortly after 11 p.m.

The unknown male presented a handgun and took cash from one of the students. The unknown male left on foot in a southerly direction. Neither student was injured in the incident.

“He has been referred to UA’s judicial affairs office,” UA spokeswoman Cathy Andreen said. “The matter is now in the hands of the legal system.”

According to state law, first-degree robbery involves either a “deadly weapon or dangerous instrument” or someone causing “serious physical injury to another.” Both charges are Class A felonies.

A true freshman in 2007, Elder did not play a down for the Crimson Tide and was redshirted. He was living in Bryant Hall this year.

The 6-foot-3, 271-pounder from College Park, Ga., was a three-star defensive lineman as rated by Scout.com his senior season at North Clayton High School.

Elder finished his high school senior season with 92 tackles, including 54 solo stops, five sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception.

“He is indefinitely suspended from all football-related activities,” Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said via a press release. “I won’t have an announcement on his future status until I have had a chance to review all of the information. The University and football program have strict guidelines regarding legal issues of this magnitude.”

More on Jeremy Elder later Monday at www.tidesports.com.