Two more UMaine athletes in trouble Football, women’s soccer players summoned

ORONO – Two more University of Maine athletes found themselves in trouble with the law early Monday morning. A UM football player and women’s soccer captain both were summoned for alcohol-related offenses.

Orono police responded to a call around 1 a.m. of a loud party on Pierce Street to find people standing on the porch and urinating on the lawn, Orono police Sgt. Scott Lajoie read Monday from reports.

A man, later identified as Black Bear wide receiver Landis Williams, standing near the outside storm door had a six-pack Corona carton in his left hand with three 12 ounce bottles of beer inside, Lajoie said.

Williams, 18, originally from Pemberton, N.J., put down the beer on the porch and someone else picked it up and attempted to take it into the house, but police already had seen Williams and summoned him for illegal possession of liquor by a minor.

Women’s soccer captain Laura Harper, 21, of Orono was found to be responsible for the Pierce Street property and was given a disorderly conduct warning for the loud party.

She denied knowing Williams, but despite pleading with police for a second warning, Harper was issued a summons for furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol.

UM athletic department officials weren’t available Monday to comment on the incident because of the Columbus Day holiday, but previously have stated that Black Bear athletes are held to a higher standard and are subject to both the athletic code of conduct and the student code of conduct.

Earlier this month, a University of Maine assistant football coach and three athletes, including a starting football player, were charged with a variety of crimes in Orono.

UM football player Anthony Cotrone, 23, of Orono was charged with assault after he allegedly punched another man and left him in an alley unconscious and bleeding.

UM assistant football coach Michael Winslow, 29, of Veazie, was arrested for allegedly operating under the influence.

And football player Xavier Martin, 18, of Baltimore, Md., and men’s basketball player Josiah “Malachi” Peay, 18, of Queens, N.Y., both were charged with misuse of identification and receiving stolen property.

Orono police said although some people might say they’re looking for athletes to break the law, Lajoie said that’s not the case.

“We’re not looking for them,” he said. “We just show up and they make themselves stand out.”