A possession charge against Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts has been dropped after police determined that there was no cocaine in a substance that Werts claimed was bird poop. Authorities in Clinton County, South Carolina, pulled Werts over for speeding on July 31. When they approached the car, police saw a substance on the hood of Werts' Dodge Charger that tested positive for cocaine in tests conducted in the field.
Werts' attorney, William Townes Jones IV, released a statement to ESPN regarding the incident.
"Upon a thorough review of the report, the dash camera and the body camera, Deputy Solicitor Al Eargle and I made the charge should be appropriately dismissed, Solicitor Rick Hubbard said in a statement. "The charge lacks prosecutorial merit and the evidence is insufficient for the State to proceed. The charge was officially dismissed on Thursday, August 8, 2019."
Video of the incident has been posted on WJCL's Twitter page.
Here's an early look at my report coming up on @WJCLNews at 11 about the possession of cocaine charge against @_shaiwertss being dropped. The @GSAthletics_FB only guilty of speeding. pic.twitter.com/HnXrHxzWhl
— Frank Sulkowski WJCL (@TheBigGuyWJCL) August 9, 2019
In the video, you can see the conversation between Werts and one of the officers who pulled him over.
"What's the white stuff on the front of your hood, man?" the officer can be heard once Werts was put in a police car.
"Bird ****," he responded.
"That ain't bird ****," the officer responded.
"I promise you that is bird doo-doo," Werts said.
"I promise you that it's not, because I just tested it and it turned pink," the officer replied.
"You can see it on the windshield," Werts said.
The conversation continued in the back of a police car. When the officer suggested quickly that it was cocaine, Werts continued to plead his case.
"I tried to clean it last night at a gas station," he said. "What is it pink?"
Werts will still face a charge for speeding, but that is relatively minor considering there wasn't enough proof that the bird poop was actually cocaine -- as was initially reported by the officers involved in the case.
Werts has been a big part of Georgia Southern's offense during his first two seasons with the program. He rushed for 901 yards and 15 touchdowns, and passed for 987 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions as a sophomore in 2018. He rushed for 722 yards and three touchdowns, and passed for 929 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games as a freshman in 2017.
Georgia Southern will open the 2019 season at LSU on Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m.
