Running back Washaun Ealey switched from No. 24 to No. 3 in the offseason, but on Friday morning he became No. 8 — as in the eighth Georgia player arrested this year.

According to police reports, after hitting a parked car in the East Village parking deck, Ealey refused to wait for University Police when confronted by a University Parking Services employee and was therefore charged with hit and run and driving with a suspended license — a fact Ealey was well aware of, according to Richt.

“I’m not happy with it. It was foolish. He knew better. He knew better,” head coach Mark Richt said. “He knew he had a suspended license and said he wouldn’t drive. But he decided one little short distance won’t hurt. And it did. He’s paying a severe price for that.”

Washaun Ealey booking mug shot

That severe price will come in the form of a “minimum one-game suspension” handed down by Richt, as Ealey joins wide receiver Tavarres King, who was arrested for underage possession of alcohol, on the sidelines serving a suspension for the first game.

Richt said Ealey will also face internal discipline and “if he handles them the way he should,” then he should play in the second game of the season at South Carolina.

The arrest, though, is another black eye for a program that has been frequently punched by offseason arrests.

Georgia’s offseason legal woes have been so troubling this year that they are currently leading the “Fulmer Cup,” the tongue-in-cheek award given to the collegiate program with the most offseason arrests.

But there are prevention methods that have been put in place.

Richt said Josh Brooks, director of football operations, spends “a lot of hours” checking on each player’s licenses to ensure that players are aware and situations like Ealey’s don’t happen.

“One thing we do, in our team meetings multiple times a year, we’ll get copies of everybody’s licenses and then try to check them to see if they’re up to date and everything like that,” Richt said. “We tell them, ‘If there’s a ticket, make us aware of it.’ We can help those guys remember to go to a court date or pay it or whatever they have to do.”

Richt has received a lot of criticism for his team’s trouble with the law recently, but in this scenario, it’s difficult to see anything that the coaching staff could have done differently.

“We do stay on top of it. There’s some that fall through the cracks at times, but this one didn’t,” Richt said.

“He was well aware. We were well aware. Everybody knew. And he just thought he could take a short little trip. But it got him.”

Ealey has plenty of teammates that can relate to his ill-advised late-night drive, as 14 players on the 105-man roster have seen the inside of a jail cell at some point during their time playing at the University.

And that figure accounts for only the players who are still on the current roster.

Both Zach Mettenberger and Montez Robinson were significant players under Richt. Both players were arrested and ultimately kicked off the team before they transferred from Georgia during the offseason last spring.

Additionally, three other current players — Bruce Figgins, Marcus Dowtin and Justin Houston — have been suspended or internally punished for having violated the rules of the team.

Regardless of the unintended side effects of Ealey’s arrest, Richt expressed disgust that a poor decision from one of his players has once again cast a negative light on his program and other players who have done things the right way and made correct decisions.

“I guarantee the guys that are out there and that will show up [for the season opener], will play their tails off,” Richt said. “There’s a whole bunch of them that have been doing everything right and been preparing for a tremendous season.”