Case against six UK football players waived to grand jury

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - The case against six UK football players charged with burglary is moving on to a grand jury.

The preliminary hearing was held Wednesday morning. This is the second step for these six players through the court system.

Last Friday, all six entered not guilty pleas and now, in court Wednesday, they waived their rights to a preliminary hearing, instead, opting to go straight to the grand jury.

This all stems from a situation in March.

Police records show on March 6, three suspects showed up to a frat party, uninvited, and were asked to leave by the residents. Those suspects became upset, and threatened that they would be back. Later that night, the three returned with three more suspects and allegedly forced their way into the home.

One witness told police that one of the suspects, later identified as Vito Tisdale, was pointing a gun at one of the victims.

Police were called and all six were arrested.

They face burglary charges, and Tisdale faces and additional charge of wanton endangerment.

Coach Mark Stoops acknowledged the incident at the annual UK Football Luncheon saying:

“I am aware of the situation that arose today. Out of respect for the legal process, I cannot comment on the charges. We have been aware of this matter since March, as we withheld the players from team activities while a student conduct review was held. Based on the outcome of the review, the players returned to activity in June. We are evaluating the current situation as we receive more information.”

Those six players are not currently practicing with the team. They’re case is moving forward to the grand jury. Right now, there is no date set for that hearing.

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