Of-Age Student Arrested After Wearing Lanyard Downtown
A USC student was arrested and charged with underage drinking at 5 Points after he was spotted wearing a lanyard last night.
The classic mark of a first-year student, SLED immediately stopped the suspect once the lanyard was identified. Witnesses claim the young man hadn’t actually entered a bar yet, and that he also attempted to show police an ID with his legal age on it, but police refused to bother running the license. As the story was shared on social media, several students came forward to confirm that the suspect, Jared Rhodes, was actually a senior over the age of 21. They also expressed the general belief that wearing the lanyard was his mistake.
Bouncers at Breakers Live called the police immediately upon seeing Rhodes’ lanyard. “Everyone agreed that there was no way he could be 21 with a USC lanyard, so we had Cola PD come on over,” Bob Parker, one of the bouncers, explained. “I know for a fact he was underage,” he added, “It was a good fake he had, but come on. The lanyard was garnet-colored and everything.”
City leaders released a joint statement after the arrest, condemning the student for what they called “an incredibly blatant attempt to break the law.”
“It is the policy of law enforcement in Columbia to treat any person wearing a USC-branded lanyard as underage, and the arresting officers are obligated to follow policy,” one part of the statement read. “If you’re wearing a lanyard in 5 points, you’re going to jail.” The statement did little to calm the social media storm, and many called on Rhodes to apologize.
After some investigation, it was found that Rhodes is a 22-year-old biology major who wanted to drop by 5 Points after a long shift at the hospital where he volunteers. Not long after the story gained popularity, he was released from custody. When asked by a Third Spur reporter about his plans for the future, he said that he is “just trying to go back to normal,” and won’t be going back to 5 Points “for at least a few weeks.”
At press time, Rhodes was considering replacing the lanyard with a phone wallet he got from Student Government.
