Former Coatesville sports star now in jail

Update: Rutgers has dismissed five players, including Andre Boggs, 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, Boggs, Ruhann Peele, Delon Stephenson and fullback Razohnn Gross. Barnwell, Boggs and Stephenson were slated to be starters.

-Associated Press

Original Story: Andre Boggs was a point of pride for residents in the Coatesville Area School District in 2013, and you can still see his football highlights on YouTube.

He was a 5-foot-10, 170-pound standout football and basketball player who attended the district's high school before leaving for a prep school in Connecticut.

A second-team selection as a wide receiver on The Inquirer's 2012 All-Southeastern Pennsylvania football team, he was noted for his blazing speed. He said at the time he was talking about football scholarships with coaches from Rutgers, Temple, Penn State, and Syracuse.

He ended up committing to Rutgers University on Oct. 24, 2013.

On Thursday, he was arrested.

Boggs, 20, of Coatesville, was picked up two days before Saturday's opening game of the football season and charged with robbery, armed burglary, and related charges. He has been suspended from Rutgers and the football team, and was being held Friday at the Middlesex County (N.J.) Adult Correction Center with bail set at $500,000.

The cornerback is accused of forcing his way into the homes of other students in April and May to steal money and drugs, according to prosecutors.

As recently as February, E.J. Barthel, the Rutgers director of recruiting, had said on Instagram that Boggs "has a bright future" with the football program.

In 2013, the Coatesville district was in the midst of a scandal, and residents scrambled for good news. The month before Boggs committed to Rutgers, racist and sexist text messages between the district's athletic director and superintendent about students and staff were made public. Both eventually resigned.

Some district residents took to Facebook to say that Boggs' going to Rutgers was a bright spot during those troubled times.

Now Boggs is the one in trouble. He was one of seven students arrested Thursday. Others face charges in the burglaries and also in what police call an unprovoked assault in which a 19-year-old student's jaw was broken.

Rutgers has suspended all seven students, Richard L. Edwards, chancellor of Rutgers-New Brunswick, said Friday.

The alleged behavior of the students "warrants an interim suspension until additional information becomes available," Edwards said in a statement.

On Thursday, the football team suspended Boggs and the four other students who were members of the team. The other players were defensive back Ruhann Peele, 22; defensive back Nadir Barnwell, 20; fullback Razohnn Gross, 20; and defensive back Delon Stephenson, 22.

They were charged with aggravated assault, riot, and conspiracy to commit a riot in a fight that left a man with a broken jaw. Former Rutgers player Tejay Johnson was charged in those cases as well.

Boggs could not be reached for comment, but Rutgers president Robert L. Barchi made his feelings clear Friday in a letter to the Rutgers community.

"The alleged behavior is abhorrent and unacceptable anywhere," Barchi wrote, "particularly so at Rutgers, where we place such a high value on personal integrity and respect for others."

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

610-313-8207@MichaelleBond