According to reports online, the country's top junior quartermiler has been released from county jail in Tallahassee, Florida, after spending the night behind bars, and will be allowed to return to The Bahamas to compete in next weekend's CARIFTA Games. The only question remains, will the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations (BAAA) allow him to do so after being arrested early Thursday morning for discharging a firearm in public and resisting arrest without violence?
Stephen 'Dirty' Newbold, 18, appeared in court yesterday morning, and was released after posting a $1,000 bond - $500 for each count. He has a case management hearing for Tuesday, April 30, at 8:30 a.m., but before then, is scheduled to return home to represent The Bahamas for a fourth straight year at the CARIFTA Games. The 42nd Annual CARIFTA Games is set for March 29 to April 1, at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium.
Up until press time, BAAA President Mike Sands was still not returning calls, but first Vice President Iram Lewis said that they are receiving legal counsel into the matter. He said that is about all he could mention at this particular time.
As for Newbold, the Florida judge ordered him to turn over any firearms in his possession after his release, but Newbold has since denied ever carrying a concealed weapon. He tweeted: 'Bad Mouth me if you want! Nobody got shot at, There was no gun. I'm no criminal, but I got a couple of misdemeanors.'
Before that, he tweeted: 'They can't keep a good man down! Lol people making it seem like life is over, I'm out, I'm gucci, back to work.'
According to reports, Newbold and fellow athlete Joshua Mance were arrested around 3:30 a.m. in the morning after shots were heard in the vicinity of a local apartment complex pool. An eyewitness identified Newbold as the shooter, and additionally, it was reported that shell casings were found in the area of the pool. Both athletes have since been suspended from the Florida State University (FSU) track team, but according to FSU Director of Athletics Randy Spetman, both Newbold and Mance could rejoin the team pending an investigation into the university's discipline policy and legal proceedings.
Mance, who has hired a private attorney, was a member of the silver medal winning 4x400m relay team that was beaten by The Bahamas at last year's Olympic Games. Mance had just turned 21 on Thursday, and was in possession of Newbold's identification card, which had an altered date of birth. Mance was charged with being in possession of a forged identification card and resisting arrest without violence.
World Youth Champion over 200 meters (m) Newbold was regarded as one of The Bahamas' best hopes for a medal going into the CARIFTA Games. He was expected to represent The Bahamas in the under-20 boys' 400m, and maybe the 200m as well. He has personal best times of 46.97 and 20.89 seconds in those events, respectively.
Newbold is a five-time CARIFTA Games medalist. He is the CARIFTA record holder in the under-17 boys' 400m hurdles as well (52.75 seconds). Newbold also won double gold at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Junior Track and Field Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In college, the FSU sophomore is a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Indoor Champion.
The crowning glory moment of Newbold's junior career might have come at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Lille, France, when he won the gold medal in the boys' 200m in a personal best time of 20.89 seconds, helping The Bahamas to secure its best finish ever at a global athletics meet.

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