Update: Former Football Star Arrested in Burglary

Update, 5:10 p.m.: Judge G. Ann Spelman ordered Jason Gwaltney held on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond at his arraignment Wednesday at First District Court in Central Islip, Newsday reported. Gwaltney pleaded not guilty. 

One of the greatest high school athletes in Long Island sports history continued his dramatic fall from grace Tuesday after he was arrested in connection with a Huntington burglary.

Jason Gwaltney, 25, a North Babylon graduate and former West Virginia University running back, was charged along with four others with first-degree burglary, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Suffolk County Police said.

The highly-recruited Gwaltney turned down USC for the Mountaineers and played just six games due to injuries, character issues and eligibility concerns. He transferred to Nassau Community College, then Division II C.W. Post before finally landing at D-III Kean.

He’s been tabbed as one of the college football recruiting busts of the decade. Now he’s simply busted.

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Three armed men entered a home on Leigh Street early Tuesday morning, police allege, entering through an unlocked door at approximately 1:20 a.m. The intruders threatened five residents and demanded cash.

Two others remained outside, waiting in a 2001 Lincoln and acting as lookouts while the burglary look place, police said. 

The five men fled in the car before being stopped by police on Deer Park Avenue in Dix Hills.

Gwaltney’s 7,800 rushing yards and 135 touchdowns – 58 more than the next running back – are tops in Long Island history. He starred at North Babylon from 2001-04, where he was a three-time All-Long Island selection and two-time Suffolk player of the year.  

His performance in the Long Island Class II championship game as a senior was one of the most dominant ever. The Bulldogs beat Garden City, 43-14, as Gwaltney scored five times and had an interception, sack and forced fumble on defense.

Also arrested with Gwaltney, who is currently living in Brentwood: Jaquese Jones, 18, of Bay Shore; Nouvelle Lucas, 17, of Wyandanch; Demetrius Edwards, 19, of Wyandanch; and Tahjiea Carpenter, 17, of Huntington.

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