COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -South Carolina safety Emanuel Cook had a felony gun charge dismissed at a preliminary hearing Friday.
Cook had been arrested last month and charged with unlawful possession of a pistol. The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $2,000 fine.
At Friday’s hearing, Richland County Magistrate Judge Nikki Hall ruled there was not enough probable cause for the case against Cook to go to a grand jury, said Lowell Bernstein, Cook’s attorney.
Cook was glad to have the situation behind him, Bernstein said.
Cook was arrested by University of South Carolina police along with James Gore III on Aug. 23 at a parking lot near campus dormitories, a police report said.
Coach Steve Spurrier said Cook told him the gun was not his weapon.
Cook was immediately suspended from the university and from the football team. However, he was reinstated to both shortly before South Carolina’s first game on Sept. 1.
The same weekend as the arrest, Cook also underwent an appendectomy that kept him from the field.
Cook returned to action Sept. 8 against Georgia. The sophomore made his first start of the season the following week against South Carolina State.
Cook is tied for fourth on the team this season with 21 tackles. He’s tied for the South Carolina lead with three passes broken up.
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