Former Penn State Forward Jamelle Cornley, 25 6’5 who played for Rain or Shine team in Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and won the crown last year, was thrown into jail early Wednesday for insulting and attacking a group of policemen who came to arrest him for causing a disturbance at a Quezon City hotel.
Out of the 10 policemen who rushed to the hotel, one was reportedly knocked unconscious by a punch from the 6’5” Jamelle Cornley, 25.
Before the arrest, police said, Cornley went on a drunken rampage at Sir William’s Hotel on Timog Avenue in Barangay South Triangle around 6 a.m. This was after three female companions with whom he had earlier checked in allegedly stole his wallet containing his “savings” worth $1,400.
He broke a large vase at the lobby, a desktop computer on the front desk and the glass doors of the in-house Baia Luna videoke bar.
Before he was subdued and handcuffed by Pedrozo’s men, the American allegedly threw a punch and knocked out PO2 Anselmo Lasatin, who had to be taken to East Avenue Hospital for treatment.
Once at the Kamuning station, it required 10 more men to drag Cornley into the detention cell.
Cornley said in an interview with a local news inquirer, it all started when he met three female friends as he came out of a bar on Timog Avenue before dawn Wednesday. He said it was the three women’s idea for them to check in at Sir William’s.
“After we had a nice time, I gave them a few P1,000 bills and $100 just as they were leaving. I hit the shower but when I came out, the wallet I placed under my pillow was gone,” he said.
He said the wallet still had $1,400 in it, which he had saved up from his earnings playing in the PBA.
He asked the hotel staff members for the identities of the three women. The employees denied knowing them by name but said they were “regulars” in the hotel.
“I was angry and tipped over a vase,” Cornley said, adding that it was at that time that the policemen arrived.
“I told the cop ‘Don’t you touch me. Don’t you f—ing touch me.’ I told him that 10 times I think. But he did not listen. I shoved him to the floor but he acted as if I had hit him. I saw him lift his head several times and take a peek. When everybody was looking and bringing him to the hospital, he pretended to be knocked out,” Cornley said.
“I am concerned about losing the money I painstakingly saved. What is embarrassing is what I should tell my mother about this,” he said, adding that he was scheduled to fly home to Columbus, Ohio, on Easter Sunday.
Cornley earlier played for the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University and also saw hardcourt action in France, Israel and Argentina before Rain or Shine Elasto Paint signed him up for the PBA Governor’s Cup last year.
