FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas defensive end Jashaud Stewart was suspended indefinitely Thursday by Coach Sam Pittman following his Wednesday arrest in connection with residential burglary and first-degree criminal mischief.
Stewart, 22, was arrested at 1 p.m. on Wednesday by Fayetteville Police and had not posted bail by 1 p.m. on Thursday, according to the Washington County Detention Center website.
The senior from Jonesboro is scheduled for a hearing Friday in Washington County Circuit Court.
“We have been notified of the issue involving Jashaud Stewart,” Pittman said in a statement to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “He has been suspended from the team indefinitely. Once we have received and reviewed more information, we will make a determination on his status with our football program moving forward.”
According to a preliminary arrest report obtained by the Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette, Stewart is alleged to have been involved in incidents in the early morning hours of Dec. 10, including the smashed front windshield of a car and a smashed laptop.
On that night, Stewart and a girlfriend of two months, whose name was redacted from the report, left around midnight to go to a casino in Oklahoma with others, whose names were also redacted from the report.
Stewart and the girlfriend were in the back of the vehicle when Stewart “became aggressive towards her, pinching her on the leg and squeezing her upper right arm,” based on her complaint in the report.
Stewart, asked to leave the vehicle by the driver, demanded the girlfriend come with him, and when she refused he grabbed her phone and threw it off the I-49 highway embankment, according to statements in the report.
When the girlfriend left the vehicle to retrieve her phone, Stewart allegedly pushed her to the ground, according to complaints in the report, and fled on foot down the road.
After returning from the casino, the female found the front windshield of her vehicle smashed and a laptop that had been in her apartment also smashed in her parking garage, per the report. The damages were estimated at approximately $1,500 for the laptop and $460 on the windshield, according to the report.
Fayetteville Police was provided a photo of Stewart and was given access to security footage from the morning of the incidents. According to the report, a person identified as Stewart was seen at 2:45 a.m. inside the female’s apartment and at 2:47 a.m. “throwing the laptop against a block wall and walking off.”
The security footage showed the female and friends locate her laptop at 2:50 a.m.
A Fayetteville police officer phoned Stewart on Wednesday at approximately 12:30 p.m. and in that conversation Stewart acknowledged there had been an incident Dec. 10, according to the report, but he would not discuss it until he had a lawyer present.
The officer met Stewart outside his apartment complex and he was transported to the Washington County jail without incident.
Stewart played sparingly in 2023 largely due to a series of nagging injuries, and finished with 89 snaps and 7 tackles. The 6-2, 257-pounder made 6 starts in 10 games in 2022 and posted 14 tackles and 2 sacks. He has 28 career tackles and 2.5 sacks in 36 games
Stewart has 1 year of eligibility remaining by being on the roster as a freshman for the covid-19 season of 2020. He has yet to announce his plans for the 2024 season.