Just after 2 a.m. Saturday, two members of the Montana Grizzly basketball team were arrested for being in a fight with a third man outside a tavern in downtown Missoula.

Lieutenant Bob Bouchee of the Missoula Police Department said Saturday afternoon that three men, identified through the Missoula County Jail roster as William Eugene Cherry, 22, Keron DeShieles, 20, were arrested outside an establishment on West Front Street and charged with disorderly conduct. Cherry was also charged with resisting arrest, and an officer used a taser to subdue him. The third man, identified through the jail roster as Jason Shawn Snyder, 33, was charged with criminal possession of dangerous drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and disorderly conduct. Bouchee said officers also used pepper spray to disperse the crowd that has gathered at the scene.

"The three individuals were taken to the Missoula County Jail and taken through the normal booking procedure. If an individual is still incarcerated, they will appear via video at 10:30 a.m. Monday. If they are not incarcerated, they will appear Monday at a designated time," Bouchee said.

All three have posted bond and are no longer in the Missoula County Jail.

University of Montana Athletic Director Kent Haslam said on Saturday evening that the situation is a disappointing one.

"Obviously, first and foremost, you're disappointed that individuals continue to put themselves in situations where they make bad decisions. We'll look at police reports and visit with the student athletes to determine exactly what happened," Haslam said.

"Will Cherry is no longer on the Grizzly basketball team, having completed his final season, and he is set to graduate in a couple of weeks. We'll deal with the other student athlete who still has eligibility through the student athlete code of conduct," Haslam added.

"You get to that point where you say we're going to have to legislate what student athletes do, and I would hope that that wouldn't be the case. We would hope that they would behave like grown-ups and realize what situations they need to back out of and not be a part of those situations. But, if that's what it's going to come down to, and we're going to have to get to the point where we're legislating every little thing that they can do, then we'll have to take a look at that," said a clearly frustrated Haslam.

Haslam said the way the University will deal with the two student athletes will differ, due to their current status with the team.

DeShieles, 20, is underage, while Cherry, 22, is not.

"With current student athletes,we'll sit down and find out exactly what happened, look at police reports and then decide what the punishment would be. It would range from a wide variety of outcomes," Haslam said.

 

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