Former UCLA Football Player Craig Lee Arrested for Attempted Murder

According to multiple reports, former UCLA running back Craig Lee was arrested on charges of attempted murder and attempted robbery over the weekend stemming from a 2016 altercation at a marijuana dispensary in Jurupa Valley.

The arrest is the result of a three-year investigation.

An article from City News Service on Fox5SanDiego.com states:

Officials said Lee and at least two other men entered Kings Palace Marijuana Dispensary in Jurupa Valley in Riverside County on June 30, 2016, when someone from the group shot a store employee. Officials said a security guard in the store returned fire, and Lee and the other suspects bolted out of the place before law enforcement arrived.

After a 3-year-long investigation into the incident, prosecutors said the whole thing appeared to be a robbery gone wrong because in the arrest warrant, obtained by TMZ Sports, a key witness claimed Lee’s role “was to grab drugs and money and run.”

Prosecutors put out the warrant for Lee’s arrest last month. On Friday, Lee was arrested in Los Angeles on charges of attempted murder and attempted robbery — both felonies. Lee has been in custody in lieu of $1 million bond since. He’s set to be arraigned Thursday, according to TMZ.

Meanwhile, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that the events were captured by surveillance video. This article provided some further details:

A man who said he was a good friend of Lee’s said Lee called him the morning of the robbery and “frantically” asked him to pick him in the Riverside area. Lee told the friend his job in the robbery “was to grab drugs and money and run,” the declaration said.

That friend also said another participant in the attempted robbery met with him and Lee the same morning, and apologized to Lee “for the way things went down.”

Of the three men who rushed into the store, only Lee was charged.

According to TMZ who first reported the story, Lee is being held on $1 million bond and is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

Lee’s family is denying his involvement with the incident. A GoFundMe page to help with Lee’s legal fees states, “Anyone that knows Craig should know pulling a gun on someone with intentions to murder them is not in his character.”

So far, more than $2,300 has been raised via the GoFundMe page including donations from at least three of Lee’s former UCLA teammates, Kenny Clark, Paul Perkins and Devin Fuller.


Go Bruins.