Illini football players Jody Ellis and Derrick McPhearson were arrested and have been suspended from the team indefinitely, the football office has confirmed.

Head coach Ron Zook released a statement Saturday that said he had been informed of the arrests early that morning. Zook’s statement did not detail any further information.

Deputy Chief of Police Troy Daniels from the Champaign Police Department confirmed that both Ellis and McPhearson had been arrested at 8:10 p.m. Friday night. The two are now being charged with both possession of stolen property and obstruction of justice.

A source close to the football team told the Daily Illini that Ellis and McPhearson were driving Friday when their car was struck by another vehicle. Ellis and McPhearson attempted to drive off, the source said, but were pulled over. Police allegedly then found stolen laptops and wallets in their vehicle.

Daniels said that the police department is not releasing any information at this time about what items stolen items were recovered.

The source also said both Ellis and McPhearson had been drinking during the day Friday as part of the campus’s Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

However, no toxicology report was done to establish blood alcohol content levels, Daniels said.

“Today, Jody and Derrick were charged with alleged criminal activity,” Zook was quoted as saying in the statement. “Our players understand how to act appropriately. So in light of their behavior, both have been suspended indefinitely.”

Ellis and McPhearson’s arraignment, or formal presentation of charges, is set for today at 1:30 p.m. at the Champaign County Courthouse, 101 E. Main St. in Urbana.

The arrests are the latest in a string of legal issues for Illinois’ two revenue-producing athletic teams. Sophomore basketball player Jamar Smith was recently charged with two felonies after allegedly wrapping his 1996 Lexus around a tree on South First Street while his blood alcohol was more than twice the legal limit.

In September, Smith’s teammate Rich McBride was arrested for driving under the influence and served a four-game suspension in November. And former football player Melvin Aleaze was recently charged with attempted murder and armed robbery, although both charges came after he was released from the football team.

Breanna O’Day, junior in LAS, who says she was the victim of a robbery Friday and was told Ellis and McPhearson were the suspects, says she did not know anyone had broken into or removed anything from her apartment until police called to say her wallet and laptop had been recovered. She said one of her three roommates also had items stolen and recovered by police.

“It was a really weird feeling, I was really upset last (Friday) night,” O’Day said of knowing burglars had entered her apartment. “I didn’t want to stay at my apartment, I had someone come pick me up and I stayed at my friend’s apartment.”

O’Day said police initially told her a football player and a baseball player were suspects.

Ellis and McPhearson are both junior wide receivers for the Illini.

McPhearson is also a first-year member of the Illini baseball team, and was in town Friday because he did not make the travel roster for a weekend trip to Texas. Baseball coach Dan Hartleb was unavailable for comment due to the trip.

O’Day said Saturday that she had not been contacted by anyone within the University administration or the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics. She said she intends to press charges.

“It stinks being a part of all this,” O’Day said. “At 8:30 Friday night I had to leave where I was, sit in the back of a cop car and hang out with the cops for the rest of my Unofficial. For a Friday night, any night, that’s not how you want to spend it.”