The CheckerBoard

Cam Newton was arrested for being in possession of a stolen laptop during his freshman year at Florida in 2008. Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia. The facts are strikingly similar.

"On November 21, 2008, Newton was arrested for the alleged theft of a laptop computer from a student at the University of Florida. He was subsequently suspended from the team after the laptop was found to be in his possession.[10] Campus police "tracked the stolen laptop to the athlete...Newton tossed the computer out his dorm window in a humorously ill-advised attempt to hide it from cops."[11] All charges against Newton were dropped after he completed a court-approved pre-trial diversion program. "I believe that a person should not be thought of as a bad person because of some senseless mistake that they made," said Newton in 2010. "I think every person should have a second chance. If they blow that second chance, so be it for them."[12] Newton announced his intention to transfer from Florida three days before the Gators' national championship win over Oklahoma.[8]"

Interestingly, the police tracked the use of the laptop back to Newton as the allegedly did with Clear. I mentioned this in another thread and I'll reiterate it here.

I think the key is whether they can connect Clear to the other thefts at Gibbs Hall. If this is an isolated event, then the charges will likely be reduced and he has a shot at staying on the team pending disciplinary action. If the police charge and connect him with multiple thefts it will be much more difficult for him to not only stay out of jail, but stay on the team.

As a VFL, I hope that this was one instance of poor judgment. Dooley has a history of giving kids second chances and keeping them on a tight rope. His treatment of Janzen Jackson was fair given that Jackson was charged with felony armed robbery initially and given his purported drug use. Dooley gave him one more shot and Jackson blew it. But he gave him a shot. He'll give Clear a shot if it's an isolated event and the charge is reduced or dropped pending entrance into some sort of program IMO.