Less than three weeks after being arrested for reportedly stealing a teammate’s credit card in November a former UF women’s basketball player was charged by the University Police Department with a second, earlier count.
Police charged Antoinette Bannister, 21, with a second count of credit card theft and fraudulent use of a credit card more than two times in six months — a third-degree felony — for reportedly taking a teammate’s credit card from the team’s locker room in September, according to a police report.
On Jan. 5, Haley Lorenzen — a freshman forward on the UF women’s basketball team — reported her scholarship bank card was taken from the women’s basketball team locker room in September, according to the report.
The card had six fraudulent charges on it between Oct. 15 and Oct. 20, according to the report. Those charges totaled about $150.
Bannister was arrested on Jan. 16 for reportedly taking and using the credit card of Viktorija Dimaite, a redshirt junior on the UF women’s basketball team, in November.
Bannister was removed from the team after the January arrest.
Huntley Johnson, Bannister’s attorney, contacted UPD on Jan. 19, according to the report, and said Bannister would sign an admission affidavit saying she stole Lorenzen’s card in order to close both cases at the same time.
Johnson confirmed he is representing Bannister on both cases but would provide no further comment.
In a notarized signed admission received by UPD on Jan. 29, Bannister said she took Lorenzen’s card in October and used it to purchase a shirt and a pair of tennis shoes.
Bannister, a 5-foot-10 guard, played in 13 games this season — including three starts. She averaged 6.2 points per game on 44.1-percent shooting.
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Antoinette Bannister looks to pass the ball during Florida's 84-73 win against Jacksonville in the O'Connell Center.
