Former BGSU basketball player charged in robbery

7/24/2001

BOWLING GREEN - A former Bowling Green State University basketball player was charged with holding up a local carryout early Sunday after police found evidence from the crime outside his apartment building.

Trenton Jackson, Jr., 23, is being held in the Wood County jail on charges of aggravated robbery, receiving stolen property, and possession of criminal tools.

During a video arraignment from the jail yesterday, Judge Mark Reddin of Bowling Green Municipal Court set bond at $30,000 cash.

According to police reports, police were called to the BG Drive Thru on South College Drive shortly after midnight where the clerk said a robber brandishing a knife and wearing a large Afro wig with a bandana wrapped around his face held up the store and fled on foot.

As police headed to the area of the crime, Officer Scott Smith saw Mr. Jackson riding his bicycle on Napoleon Road carrying a book bag that “appeared to be very full.” While Mr. Jackson said he was heading home after playing basketball at BGSU, the officer asked to look inside the bag to make sure he wasn't involved in the robbery.

Mr. Jackson said he could look in it, but he wanted to call his parents first. He asked the officer to follow him back to his apartment.

Police said Mr. Jackson rode off quickly on his bicycle and when Officer Smith caught up with him at the Napoleon Road apartment complex where he lives, the officer saw him crouched down by a bush at the rear of the complex “handling his book bag.”

The officer followed him inside, but Mr. Jackson went into his apartment and closed the door before letting the officer inside a few minutes later. At that time, he told him he could look around the apartment and in the book bag, which contained a basketball and knee straps.

“The bag was noticeably not as full as it was when we initially made contact. When asked about this discrepancy, Jackson did not have an explanation,” Officer Smith wrote in his report.

He and another officer left but found a pile of items behind a bush on the east side of the building, including a large curly wig, a knife, calculator, and a brown paper bag containing cash the police believe to have been taken in the robbery.

Mr. Jackson, the only senior on last year's Falcon basketball team, had transferred to BGSU in 1998 - a year after he was dismissed from the Ohio State University basketball team.

In August, 1997, Mr. Jackson was arrested after an altercation near the OSU campus and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. He was acquitted.

Since coming to Bowling Green, police and court records show Mr. Jackson has had a few run-ins with local police. On April 14, he was charged with criminal damaging after he allegedly punched out a window at the Time Warner Cable office on North Main Street.

He had been thrown out of the Junction Bar just before the incident, according to police reports. That charge is pending in Bowling Green Municipal Court.

He and a female were charged with disorderly conduct June 16, 2000, after police found them having intercourse under a tree. He was convicted and paid a $120 fine in municipal court.

In March, 2000, police cited him for driving with a suspended license and a stop sign violation. In municipal court, the stop sign charge was dismissed and the other charge was amended to no operator's license. He paid a $150 fine plus court costs, received a 10-day suspended jail sentence, and was placed on probation for a year.

BGSU spokeswoman Teri Sharp said Mr. Jackson was enrolled as a senior for spring semester but did not graduate. He is not currently registered at the university, she said.

A preliminary hearing in the latest case is set for July 30 in municipal court.