UVA football player arrested

CHARLOTTESVILLE—Another University of Virginia football player is facing criminal charges.

U.Va. freshman J’Courtney Williams, a linebacker who redshirted last season, was arrested Monday by university police, Lt. Melissa Fielding confirmed this afternoon.

Williams, a Christchurch School graduate from Danville, was charged with one count of credit card theft, a felony, and one count of credit card fraud, a misdemeanor, Fielding said.

A U.Va. student “reported his wallet stolen from the Aquatics and Fitness Center,“ Fielding said, “and our investigation led us to Williams and another student.“

This was not Williams’ first encounter with police since he enrolled at U.Va. In February, he was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. That case has been continued until February 2009 in Albemarle General District Court.

Williams is recovering from shoulder surgery and has not been practicing with the Cavaliers this spring.

Neither has Mike Brown, who was expected to contend for a starting job at cornerback. In early March, U.Va. police arrested Brown and charged him with three felonies: one count each of grand larceny, possession of stolen property with intent to sell, and altering serial numbers. Brown also was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.