Former OSU football player arrested, now suspect in nine bank robberies

According to WBNS-TV, a Columbus police detective testified Friday that Williamson is a suspect in at least eight other bank robberies in March and April. The detective said Williamson always used a note to say he had a gun and was demanding money.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, police said Williamson was not carrying a gun when he was arrested after the Wednesday bank robbery.

Court records show there was an arraignment earlier this week, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, May 3. Those court records do not list an attorney who could be contacted for comment on Williamson’s behalf. Franklin County Sheriff’s records listed him still in jail early Sunday.

Williamson grew up in the Columbus area, going to high school at Westerville South and then IMG Academy in Florida. He was a defensive back for Ohio State’s football team for five seasons from 2017-21, playing in 47 games, 14 of them as a starter.

According to a bio page on the OSU website, Williamson received academic-all Big Ten Conference honors twice and earned a degree in history.

Williamson was out with an injury for the final game of his OSU career, the Jan. 1, 2022 Rose Bowl, and posted a long Twitter thread that day, to talk about “my career as a young black college athlete at the highest level. As guidance for u go getters coming up. S/O westerville and those city kids chasing.”

Williamson’s post came just as his career was ending, and as the door was about to open for college athletes to legally earn money via their name, image and likeness (NIL). He criticized the way college football players had to “play a violent sport for free,” and push past injuries or be expendable. He urged players to “keep putting pressure on these institutions to make meaningful change in athletics & our communities.”

The Columbus bank robbery case is not Williamson’s first arrest. In August 2022, he was charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping in Memphis, Tennessee. According to multiple reports on court affidavits in that case, a woman said Williamson forced her to drive him to an ATM and withdraw $500, then drove off with her car.

Columbus police said in court Friday that those Tennessee charges were not prosecuted because of concerns about Williamson’s competency, the Dispatch reported.