A 34-minute audio clip from St. Augustine police features Erik Murphy and Cody Larson admitting to underage drinking and breaking into a car.
The two Florida basketball players were arrested early Sunday morning and charged with third-degree felony burglary. Josh Adel, a 21-year-old team manager, accompanied them and was charged with principal to burglary.
Each has been suspended from all team activities by Florida coach Billy Donovan, who said Tuesday he would wait to learn all of the facts before taking further disciplinary action.
According to the recording obtained Wednesday by First Coast News, Adel and Murphy received multiple phone calls from Larson in the back of a police cruiser.
Adel and Murphy urged Larson to turn himself in, according to the recording.
Larson: “I can’t get in trouble.”
Adel: “I understand that, man, but you got to come back.”
Larson: “No, I don’t.”
Adel: “Yeah, man, you got to.”
…
Adel: “They’re going to find you, man. You can’t be a f***ing fugitive.”
Larson is currently amid a two-year probation period stemming from a February 2010 incident in which he shared Hydrocodone pills with a high school teammate, leading Murphy and Adel to speculate that his punishment would be severe.
Adel: “Do you understand Cody is on probation? He’s going to be kicked off the g** d*** team because of this.”
Murphy: “I know.“
As they waited, Murphy suggested a number of ways the group might get out of their predicament, with Adel shooting down each one.
Murphy proposed reporting Scarlett O’Hara’s Bar and Restaurant for letting them enter underage and also recommended telling police that he, Larson and Adel were looking for a lost wallet or playing a prank on the employees.
Adel quickly rejected each plan, but Murphy said he was “pulling everything out.”
Adel: “That makes us look like assholes. That we’re, that you two are wasted and f***ing break in cars. That looks f***ing dumb. “
Murphy: “Whatever, bro. I’m doing it.”
Throughout the process, Murphy seemed confident he and Adel would be able to get off because they did not take anything, according to the recording, but Adel countered that St. Augustine police would be harsher than law enforcement closer to UF.
Adel: “We’re not in f***ing Gainesville. They (St. Augustine police) don’t give a f***.”
Murphy: “We’re prior good behavior. We can get off, but Cody is going to get…”
Adel: “Cody’s f***ed. We’re all f***ed.”
Adel, who said in the recording he was against the break-in and was not acting as a lookout, added he believed Murphy would get a second chance, while Adel would lose his job.
Adel: “Do you understand I’ll be fired and I have no chance of ever pursuing any type of career in basketball?”
Murphy: “I’m getting you off. I don’t give a f***.”
Adel: “It doesn’t matter.”
The nature of the conversation makes it seem they had no knowledge they were being recorded.
