Armed Robbery Charges Against One Football Player Dropped

BUFORD, GA — Prosecutors have dropped charges against one of the Lanier High School football players accused in a recent armed robbery.

There was not enough evidence to pursue charges against Colin "C.J." Burress, assistant Gwinnett County district attorney Dan Mayfield said Wednesday.

Burress is a senior defensive back who last month signed to play football at Kent State University.

Charges against Marcko Baity, Lanier's leading rusher last season, and a juvenile, still stand, however.

The two are accused of pulling a gun on a fellow student last Monday and demanding he give them marijuana.

The gun turned out to be a pellet gun. But the charges, which include armed robbery and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, stuck.

According to a Gwinnett County Police report, officers were called to the 2000 block of Skyler Leigh Drive at about 3:35 p.m. last Monday.

There, they met Lanier High student Daniel Garcia-Morales, who told them some guys he knows from school stole his gold chain from around his neck and tried to steal his cellphone and wallet.

Officers quickly located a Maroon Pontiac Grand Am like the one witnesses described and pulled it over. Baity was the driver and Burress was the front-seat passenger.

Searching the car, police found several gold chains, several cellphones, a set of digital scales and a bag of what appeared to be marijuana.

They also located a pistol, which was described as metallic and heavy but was actually a pellet gun.

Meanwhile, police said Morales was giving them what seemed like vague details of the crime. After officers found a jar with what appeared to be marijuana residue in his possession, he told them that the group in the car pulled up to him as he was walking and asked if he had any marijuana.

He said he told them he only had enough for himself. They asked him to get in the car, then asked him again to give them the marijuana. When he refused, he said, the juvenile first punched him in the face, then grabbed the black pistol and pointed it at his head.

Morales said he got out of the car and it drove away, but that it returned shortly afterward. The car's occupants threw his book bag at him, then said they wanted his gold chain, cellphone and wallet.

Morales and a friend tried to run behind some houses, but say they were followed by the juvenile and another suspect who police identified as Marco Lopez. He said Lopez pointed the gun at him while the juvenile ripped his gold chain necklace from around his neck.

A scuffle started, according to the story, and Morales' friend knocked the gun out of Lopez's hand, realizing it was only a pellet gun. Around that time, Morales said, Baity and Burress got out of the car and began approaching.

He said he remembered one of the other two alleged attackers say, "Don't let the big guys have to handle this."

By then, several neighbors had come outside to see what was going on and the four got back in the car and drove away, Morales told police.

They were arrested driving on Little Mill Road. Police said a follow-up search located Morales' gold necklace, beneath one of the back seats.

Baity is the leading rusher on Lanier's football team. He tallied 1,089 yards last season, helping lead the team to a region championship, and had amassed 291 yards and three touchdowns in two games this season.

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