KNOXVILLE -- Hours after a felony theft charge stemming from his arrest in March was dismissed, Coleman Thomas officially was reinstated to Tennessee's football team early Wednesday afternoon.
The rising sophomore offensive tackle was suspended from all team-related activities for a three-week period as the legal process played out, but now Thomas is expected to rejoin his teammates on the field when the Volunteers return for their 11th spring practice this afternoon.
Thomas was arrested on March 25 after he was caught selling a stolen Xbox video game system and three games to a video game store in North Knoxville.
Don Bosch, Thomas's attorney, released a statement on his client's behalf Wednesday.
"It appears that a rush to judgement was made charging Coleman Thomas with this offense," the statement read. "Mr. Thomas did not commit any crime and was unaware that the Xbox and three video games in question had been stolen.
"He fully cooperated from the first minute he was notified by law enforcement, and it was unfortunate that such a hasty decision to charge Mr. Thomas was made solely by the University of Tennessee Police Department.
"We are appreciative of the effort that the Knox County District Attorney's Office has made in likewise determining Mr. Thomas's actual innocence. We look forward to Coleman doing great things in his future now that this issue is behind him."
According to the district attorney's office, UT police interviewed Thomas and other witnesses in a follow-up investigation and determined the charges against him should be dropped.
"Following this additional investigation, UTPD concluded that there was a lack of evidence that Mr. Thomas knew that the item was stolen at the time he possessed it," Deputy District Attorney General Kyle Hixson said in a released statement.
"Our office reviewed the police file in its entirety, and we agree with their assessment."
Thomas passed a polygraph test in which he said he didn't know the Xbox and games had been stolen.
Two former Tennessee football players were involved in the incident, according to a source, but neither faces charges in connection to the theft at this point.
According to documents provided by his attorney, Thomas was hanging out with one of the former players at his mother's house in Knoxville when the other former player asked the first former player, who's currently his roommate, to sell his Xbox and three games "because he needed extra money."
When the first former player said he didn't have his wallet with him and couldn't pawn the items, the second former player asked Thomas, who believed the system and games belonged to the second former player, to sell them.
Thomas then sold the items, which were valued at $640 -- and thus a Class E felony for theft of items between $500 and $1,000 -- at a local GameStop for $176.
According to the polygraph report, Thomas later told two UTPD investigators that he'd never been inside Reese Hall, which is the location of the dorm room from which the Xbox and games were stolen on March 13, the Friday before Tennessee's spring break.
Thomas started five games at right tackle as a freshman in 2014 before an ankle injury sidelined him for a couple of games and he returned in a backup role. The Virginia native began spring practice as Tennessee's first-team right tackle before his suspension. Brett Kendrick assumed that first-team spot and has performed well since moving there.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.