Oregon wide receiver Messiah Hampton was arrested Friday afternoon in connection with a high-speed chase earlier this month in which two vehicles evaded Springfield police.
Hampton is facing two felony charges of attempting to elude police and one misdemeanor charge of reckless driving, according to jail records. He was booked into Lane County Jail and was released Friday evening.
Hampton, a freshman, was a late addition to the Big Ten availability report for the second consecutive week. The Ducks face Northwestern on Saturday.
Police told The Oregonian that Hampton was identified as one of the drivers in an incident during the early morning hours of Oct. 18, just hours after Oregon beat Nebraska at home. At 3:51 a.m., according to the Springfield police dispatch log, several officers were involved in a high-speed chase of two vehicles.
No immediate arrests were made. One of the vehicles in the chase was abandoned and found near the area where Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart was later arrested and charged with DUII about an hour after the incident.
Springfield police did not name Stewart as one of the suspects in the Oct. 18 speeding incident. They told the Oregonian on Friday night that, after arresting Hampton, they were still working to identify the other driver involved.
Recent records also showed that Oregon tight end Jamari Johnson was given a Class A speeding ticket that same morning. Police also did not name Johnson as one of the suspects in the chase.
At his evening news conference Oct. 19, two days after the Ducks' win over Nebraska, head coach Dan Lanning cited "an incident that didn't match our standard" and said it "overshadowed the success we had," though he did not elaborate.
At the time, Lanning said Oregon was still gathering details and planned to handle any punishment or repercussion internally. Multiple players, including Hampton, were added to the availability report last Friday night ahead of Oregon's game against Illinois. The Ducks played without Stewart (undisclosed injury, DUII) and Hampton (undisclosed reason), as well as wide receivers Jalen Lott (undisclosed reason) and Jeremiah McClellan (broken foot).
Last week, Hampton and wide receiver Jalen Lott were added to the availability report Friday night ahead of Oregon's game against Illinois. That report already included Stewart (undisclosed injury, DUII).
This week, Hampton, Stewart and Lott were not part of the various availability reports until Friday night, when Hampton was added.
After starting the season ranked No. 2 in the AP preseason poll, Oregon has lost three games this season and is unranked.
The University of Oregon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.