BTN.com staff, September 5, 2015
(AP) Rutgers has dismissed five players from its football team following their arrests earlier this week.
Coach Kyle Flood announced the dismissals about 10 minutes before the Scarlet Knights' season opener against Norfolk State.
Kicked off the team were defensive backs Nadir Barnwell, Dre Boggs, Ruhann Peele, Delon Stephenson and fullback Razohnn Gross. Barnwell, Boggs and Stephenson were slated to be starters.
Barnwell also is at the center of an investigation into whether Flood broke school and NCAA rules by contacting a teacher about a grade he received.
On Thursday, the Middlesex County prosecutor's office announced Barnwell, Peele, Gross and Stephenson were charged with aggravated assault, riot and conspiracy to commit a riot for a fight in April that left a man with a broken jaw.
The county prosecutor's office also said Boggs was charged in two home-invasion robberies in April and May.
Shortly after the announcement of the arrests on Thursday, athletic director Julie Hermann announced the players were suspended.