Police: Marshall Henderson had previous run-ins with law

Scott Gleeson | USA TODAY Sports

Ole Miss basketball player Marshall Henderson had two previous run-ins with police in Oxford, Miss., in the weeks before he was stopped for speeding and found in possession of marijuana and cocaine, according to police reports obtained by USA TODAY Sports on Friday.

In one instance, an officer stopped Henderson on April 27 for playing loud music and not wearing a seat belt, and the officer threatened to take him to jail when Henderson turned his music up just as loud as he pulled away after receiving the citations.

Another incident that drew police attention was a party that took place early on the morning of April 4, just two days before the Final Four was played in Atlanta. Oxford police officer Cody Pruitt said he received a noise complaint and knocked on an apartment door to which Henderson opened and identified himself. After Henderson obliged to turn down the "loud music," the officer left, according to a police report.

Three weeks later, Oxford police officer Jacob Abel stopped Henderson for playing loud music and not wearing his seat belt. Henderson was issued citations for a noise violation and failure to have proof of liability insurance.

However, after he was given his citations, Abel said in his report that he had to threaten Henderson that he''d "take him to jail."

"After this Mr. Henderson began to drive off. He turned his music back up to the same level when I stopped him. I yelled for him to stop and after he did, I approached him and explained to him that if he turned his music back up I was going to stop him and take him to jail. He complied, turned his music down and then drove off again," Abel wrote.

Despite Henderson's run-ins with the law, Oxford police chief Joey East said his officers never booked Henderson because he was "very cooperative." Henderson has been suspended indefinitely by Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy.

The most serious incident was first reported on Thursday by the Wall Street Journal, which cited a May 4 police report stating that Henderson was pulled over for speeding and found to have what appeared to be small amounts of cocaine and marijuana in his car.

According to that police report, which also was obtained by USA TODAY Sports, an officer smelled marijuana in the vehicle, and Henderson ultimately handed over a small amount of marijuana to a second officer, saying that was the only illegal substance he had in the car. But police called in a K-9 unit, and a drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to a separate bag containing a small amount of cocaine.

The amount of cocaine was less than one-tenth of a gram, not enough to prosecute. Henderson was cited only for lack of proof of liability insurance.

Henderson told the police officer, Shane Fortner, that he was traveling back from a Memphis Grizzlies game. Fortner noticed that Henderson's "chest was rising rapidly and his hands were shaking uncontrollably," the report said. Upon asking Henderson why he was so nervous, he replied by saying he "didn't like being around cops."

Fortner ended his report by noting that "the white powdery substance and marijuana were both logged in for evidence."

A report from another officer, Mark Hodges, stated that when the powdery substance that appeared to be cocaine was found, Henderson replied by saying he "forgot about it."

Henderson led the Southeastern Conference in scoring, averaging 20.1 points a game as he helped the Rebels win the SEC tournament and reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.

In a statement Wednesday, Mississippi head coach Kennedy said, "Since the season ended, we have talked a lot about Marshall taking a greater leadership role with our team. With that comes greater responsibility, and he must do a better job of living up to the high standards we expect from him and he desires from himself."

Scott Gleeson, a national college basketball producer/writer, is on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.