More details released in arrest of IU basketball point guard Xavier Johnson

Indiana point guard Xavier Johnson was arrested early Sunday morning on preliminary charges of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle and reckless driving, according to Monroe County Correctional Center records. He was released from the Monroe County Jail at 10:32 a.m., on Sunday on $2,000 surety, $500 cash bond.

The resisting law enforcement with a vehicle charge is a Class 6 felony. The reckless driving charge is a Class C misdemeanor.

According to court records, Johnson will face an initial hearing at 1 p.m., Friday.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed by Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Kyle Moulden, Moulden was driving southbound on College Avenue in Bloomington from the Ind. 45/46 Bypass when he saw a Gray 2019 Dodge Charger traveling northbound on Walnut Street at an extremely high rate of speed. Moulden wrote his radar showed the Charger was going 90 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone. There is ongoing construction on the east side of the road there, and Moulden wrote there were other cars on Walnut Street and pedestrians in Miller Showers-Park between Walnut Street and College Avenue.

Moulden wrote he turned around at Old State Road 37 and tried to catch up to the Charger when it turned right onto the Ind. 45/46 Bypass. Moulden wrote he flashed his emergency lights and siren and the Charger made a quick turn into the apartment complex at 2036 N. Walnut Street. Moulden wrote the Charger continued moving at a high rate of speed and disregarded a stop sign within the complex before finally pulling into a parking spot on the southeast side of the complex. At that point, Moulden wrote he saw Johnson get out of the car and change seats with Indiana University student Lee Mariotti, who he wrote was sitting in the back of the car. Parker Stewart, a starting guard for Indiana this season who has since entered the transfer portal, was also in the car.

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"I pulled up behind the Charger and turned on my spotlight and shined it on the vehicle," Moulden wrote. "I clearly observed the driver jump into the back seat and a rear passenger climb up to the driver's seat. The Charger was shaking heavily and the rear passenger hit the horn when climbing in the front seat. All occupants were removed at gun point and placed in handcuffs. The person I first saw climb from the driver's seat into the rear seat was identified as Xavier Johnson."

Moulden wrote Johnson insisted throughout the interrogation that he was not driving and said that he was not driving because he was "drunk." However, the Charger had Virginia plates and was registered to his family, and he had the keys in his pocket. Johnson's parents live in Woodbridge, Va.

Moulden's probable cause affidavit does not mention any attempt to determine if Johnson was drunk. However, according to Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain, Johnson was administered a portable breath test for alcohol at the scene. The level was extremely low, Swain said, so charges for operating while intoxicated were not pursued.

According to Moulden, Mariotti maintained throughout the interrogation he was driving the vehicle. He was arrested and charged with false informing. He bonded out of jail on $1,000, surety, $500 cash bond. He waived an initial hearing, pled not guilty and has a pre-trial conference set for June 2.

According to Moulden, Stewart, who was in the front passenger seat, would not tell him who was driving the car. Moulden wrote Stewart said he told the driver to stop, but would not say who the driver was, and said Mariotti was "on the left," but would not say if he was in the driver's seat or in the back. Stewart was not charged.

The men's basketball program released a statement on Johnson's arrest on Sunday morning. An IU basketball spokesman said Wednesday the program had nothing yet to add to that statement.

"Indiana University Athletics and the men’s basketball program are aware of the charges involving Xavier Johnson," the statement said. "IU Athletics will continue to gather facts, cooperate with and monitor the legal process, and take further action as the evolving situation warrants."

Johnson transferred to Indiana from Pittsburgh after three seasons with the Panthers before last spring, not long after coach Mike Woodson was hired. He finished second on the team in scoring with 12.1 points per game and led the Hoosiers with 5.1 assists. He scored in double figures in his last 10 games of the season, averaging 16.6 points per game in that stretch and helping the Hoosiers to two dramatic wins in the Big Ten tournament and a win over Wyoming in the First Four of the NCAA tournament. He still has one year of eligibility remaining.

The 22-year-old Johnson was suspended for the Northwestern game along with four other players for a violation of team rules, which coach Mike Woodson indicated involved a violation of curfew on the road. He left the Pittsburgh program before the 2020-21 season ended for reasons that neither Johnson not the Pitt basketball program has disclosed. He averaged 13.7 points and 4.9 assists in three seasons with the Panthers and was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team in 2018-19.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Xavier Johnson arrest: Police report details IU basketball player's arrest