Oregon Freshman Messiah Hampton Arrested on Felony Eluding Charges, Out for Northwestern Game

Oregon freshman wide receiver Messiah Hampton was arrested on Friday and booked into the Lane County Jail on two felony counts of attempting to elude police in a vehicle and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving, The Oregonian reported. Hampton was released from the jail later on Friday. Ducks Wire put the release at 7:22 p.m. Pacific time, and Oregon listed him as out for Saturday's game against Northwestern on the Big Ten availability report.

The October 18 chase

The charges go back to the early morning of October 18 in Springfield, hours after Oregon beat Nebraska at Autzen Stadium. Springfield officers pursued two vehicles in a high speed chase and then broke off the pursuit for safety reasons, according to the Springfield Police Department. One of the vehicles was later found abandoned near the spot where another Oregon wide receiver, Evan Stewart, was arrested that same morning.

Springfield Police Deputy Chief George Crolly said on Friday that Hampton has been identified as the driver of one of the two vehicles. "We are still working to identify the driver of the other vehicle," Crolly told The Oregonian.

Teammates are not suspects in the chase

Police said Stewart is not believed to be a suspect in the eluding case. Stewart was arrested on October 18 on a charge of driving under the influence of intoxicants, a separate case. Oregon tight end Jamari Johnson was cited for speeding the same night, and police said he is not believed to be a suspect in the chase either.

Hampton is the second Oregon wide receiver arrested in less than two weeks, after Stewart's arrest on October 18. The two cases come from the same night in Springfield, but police have kept them separate: Stewart's case is a driving under the influence case, and Hampton's is the eluding case that grew out of the two car chase.

Hampton, a freshman from Rochester, New York, has 16 catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns this season, according to On3. He was a late addition to Oregon's availability report on Friday night, listed as out for the Northwestern game after a week in which he had not appeared on the report at all.

What comes next

Ducks Wire reported that it asked the University of Oregon for comment on Friday and had not received a response. Oregon hosts Northwestern on Saturday, and head coach Dan Lanning was not expected to address the arrest until after that game. No court date for Hampton had been announced in the reports published on Friday night, and police said the search for the second driver is still open.